H.M.A.S Badger ~ Online Æther Ship ~ Member's Wanted

[Matthias Pennypecker]

“I tell you Pennypecker for the last time, I have no idea who that man was! Perhaps LaFrange, sent him.” A stunned expression crossed Vandenberg’s face. “
My, God man! What did you tell him!”

Pennypecker had met Vandenberg back at The Sans café after his interview with the gunmen in his hotel room.

 “Everything of course, he had a gun in my face remember. Oh relax! Nothing we are about is really all that secret. We have made it well known that we were looking for a ship to go deep space. So apparently this man has a ship and is willing to take us out. I told him I had to confer with you first. We are supposed to meet him tomorrow at my hotel.”

“You agreed to that!”

“Of course, when someone points a gun at me I become very agreeable. But that was then, neither of us will be their tomorrow. I made arrangements to have my things moved to another hotel near the spaceport under an assumed name.

I suggest you come with me, our friend asked about your whereabouts. I let him believe you were on your way back to your Observatory.”

“What if he tracks us down?”

“With any luck we wont be on Mars by then. Look at this two messages I picked up after our friend left.” Pennypecker ordered a another round of drinks as Vandenberg read over them.

“You know Randolph Hearst? Your better connected then I thought.” Vandenberg mumbled.

“I Work for three of his papers but I have never met him. I had no idea that he had any interest in what I was doing. Its unnerving to find the Old Man looking over my shoulder. Too many people seem interested in what we are doing. I have to admit I only half believed in some of your story. Its getting clear you must be on to, something.

Anyway this Grey fellow, in the second message, seems keen on the idea. He got the Hearst letter and is on his way. Said something about negating terms on his arrival, sounds more like a formality then an obstacle. So, with any luck well be gone before our friend can locate us. If he dose,, The first time he caught me unprepared and unarmed, the next time he wont be so lucky”
Pennypecker opened his tweed coat to show Vandenberg he was caring his gun with him.

“Hump, what happened to, the pen is mightier then the sword?” Vandenberg scoffed.

“I was once in Lahore on assignment, saw a man beheaded in the city square. Try that with a pen.”

[Matthias Pennypecker]

In the next morning addition;

[Matthias Pennypecker]

Vandenberg was still sitting at the breakfast table reading the paper for the sixth time trying to make sense of the disaster. Who could have done such a thing?
All of his research, all gone up in flames, as if someone did not want it ever to see the light of day.
Two people Killed!
Vandenberg was sure that one of them was his assistant Williams, and him with a wife and three children.
The second man was most likely that Irishmen who booked the telescope for the next week Professor McGraw. Vandenberg was interrupted as a very agitated Pennypecker entered the hotels dinning room.

“Vandenberg, Your not going to believe what’s happened!” Sitting down Pennypecker pored himself a cup of black coffee.
“Yes, I will I was the paper this morning too” Vandenberg said holding up the morning addition.

“What? Oh yes, I saw that, I am so sorry ol boy. That I am sorry to say is the smaller disaster of the day.”

“What! What now.”

“I just got a message from my editors the paper wants my back on Earth, now. Its only just happening and not in the papers yet but  the U.S of A is officially at war with Great Britain.

 Some, incident happened between an American and a British war ship coming in and out of the port of New York of all places. One of the ships opened fire then all hell broke lose. From what I was able to get from the message I got, the British ship had to fight its way out of the harbor. She ran south but sank off the coast of Norfolk Virginia. Both sides will be screaming for blood.

My editor knows I am lying low right now so if the Widows son show up soon we are still on. Once were outbound theirs no going back. However if the ships delayed, sorry old boy but I am bound for Earth and this expedition will have to wait till after the war.”

[Theosophus Grey]

Despite a handful of systems failures - no more than one would expect for a shakedown cruise - the Widow's Son raised Sirtis Major in record time.  Settling into the raised docking cradle outside the newly-built aetherterminal, a soaring architectural extravagance of polished glass and etched steel erected under the auspices of the post-war Martian Business Consortium, Grey gave orders for refitting and supplying for their upcoming journey before going ashore to see to the proposed charter arrangements.

With two of the kuhkri-wielding Dragoncorps troopers in tow at Mr. Bailey's insistence ("...we didn't exactly leave under the best circumstances, if you know what I mean sir..."), Grey and Frank Vilhaus made their way companionably through the impressive reception structure in search of the customs desk.  Having left word of their arrival with the booking agent that had forwarded Pennypecker's cable regarding passage, Frank took his own leave with the intention of visiting the Botanical Society lab that he had so hastily vacated months before. 

Encouraging his bodyguards to tip a pint or two before returning to the ship, Grey took a purposefully casual stroll across the airfield in the general direction of the British Consulate, his left hand occasionally brushing at invisible lint on his coat collar to signal his receptivity to contact with a fellow Traveler.  Within minutes, a lean man in worn business clothes approached him, patting pockets as if searching for a match; taking the hint, Grey hailed him and offered him a light for his cigar, passing along the remainder of the matches in a friendly gesture as they parted. 

Marking the exact time by his pocketwatch, Grey then settled into a highly visible seat at a nearby cafe and awaited a response to the encrypted note concealed in the matchbox...

[MWBailey]

Troopers PFC Lonny Kilpatrick and LC (Lance Corporal) David Morrison, having left their companions Khie Kirisz and Shih Mirak to fly for exercise above the airfield, sat in the bar of the cafe', nursing their pints and keeping themselves braced for action if it became necessary. Kilpatrick received the call for an update on their detail from Bailey. He had opted for teh more-discreet earphone-and-mic option for his uniform radio, and he used it now to converse with teh Corp's SIC. "We can see 'im and 'e's not five paces away, sir, Kilpatrick said in a not-too-thick Irish brogue (it was so light it was almost a lilt).

"Oh, you can, can you?" Bailey swore silently to himself. If anything happens to Grey... "Use the available cover, and lounge about and nurse your pint closer to your charge, Lon, the last thing we need is to be caught with our pants down and our pints up."

"but he doesn't seem to want us that close, sir--!" Morrison chimed in on his own uniform radio.

"I don't bloody care, Corporal. If we lose him, we've got a world of trouble on our hands. Now, one of you: Dont show yourself, act like yer goin' to th' head or somethin', then get closer... and the other hang back ta watch the room. Bailey out."

Kilpatrick did as instructed, finally moving to a screen from around teh edge of which, through a heavily-leaved potted bush, he could see Grey only three feet away, yet still be technically 'in the bar,' and out of sight of either man.

[Matthias Pennypecker]

“For the last time buddy I, DON’T, SMOKE! Keep your stinking matchbox.”

This stranger had just knocked on Pennypeckers hotel room door and asked him for a light. When Pennypecker told him he didn’t have one the guy offered him a box of matches! Then in a last ditch effort to get him to take it he tossed the box to Pennypecker and walked away shaking his head.

Grumbling to himself and about to return to bed and sleep Pennypecker was about to toss the box on his night stand. He stopped and looked at the small box in his hand and opened it.

“ Son-of-a,, empty! Not one stinking match!”

 Pennypecker had almost fallen back asleep again when it dawned on him that the box was a message. Fifteen Minutes later and he entered the café. Looking around he saw a man sitting alone and looking back at him. Pennypecker crossed the room to stand at the mans table.
He smiled and offered his hand.
“Hello, I am Matthias H. Pennypecker I do believe you are waiting for me. That is if your name is….?”

[MWBailey]

Kilpatrick turned and signed silently to Morrison that the person meeting with Grey was an American; Morrison relayed the same to Bailey via prearranged spoken code language (chosen just for this occasion).

"Ello Da, Got you them two bot'les of milk, but there' only one fresh and the other one's curdled."

"Then Stay there, Laddy Buck, 'til the barkeep takes back the curdled one!" Bailey retorted (Translation: "Understood, stay on location til they leave, then accompany Grey wherever he goes.")

"Okay, Da, don't get riled"

"Say, excuse me, Lance Corporal, but should you be usin' your radio for persdonal business?" A bystander piped up.

"Heh, the brass don't moind,  mate," Morrison replied, and shrugged, "they say the added use keeps the valves up."

[Theosophus Grey]

“Hello, I am Matthias H. Pennypecker I do believe you are waiting for me. That is if your name is….?”

"Grey, Theosophus  Grey" he replied, rising and offering his hand to the man, and pointedly not receiving the Masonic handshake in return; interesting, involved but not in the Order...  "Commanding the Widow's Son out of Victoria, we received your chartering cable and your employer's letter of recommendation, and are currently outfitting for the Jupiter run.  Please, join me and we'll discuss the details" Grey concluded, waving a serving girl over to order drinks, and wryly smiling to himself that Kilpatrick need practice in 'acting casual behind potted plants'...

[MWBailey]

Mirak, tell  Kirisz to tell Lon he looks a right Burke peering through the bush like that. Tell 'im to take sips an' stop starin'! Morrison sent to his companion.

I think he already heard you, Dave, Mirak chuckled back over the mindlink, her sending closely followed by Dave's, coming across the multiple shared links, Yeah, I did, an' you look a right Prat yerself, sittin' there wi' yer finger in yer pint and the foam in yer soupstrainer, Corp., Lon chuckled over the link, as did the others as well after a moment. alrigh', alrigh', let's hall shaddup, me included, and keep a watch on our dear cap'n, or Bailey'll fry all our arses in axel grease when we get back, Dave sent after a moment, and all of the troopers calmed down and concentrated on the task at hand...

[Matthias Pennypecker]

Pennypecker gave Grey a full accounting of the events since he first met Vandenberg.
Including the encounter with the unknown gunmen. As well as the fact that he had a contact in the Deimos ship yards, that informed him that, The Amadeus had left port yesterday.

“So, we are starting out late. Vandenberg is also staying at the same hotel as am I if wish to meet him before accepting the offer, we can take a walk up the street. The man trying to hide behind the potted plant would be most welcome to join us, assuming he’s yours. In any case we need to act quickly or well lose any advantage.”

[Alexis Voltaire]

Frank headed off toward the Botanical Society's research lab near the edge of the city. He looked upward as a shadow passed over the ground, watching as one of the dragons flew overhead, flapping to gain altitude.

'All is well.' Shi-iri sent from where she was already flying high over the airfield, watching what was going on below and keeping in contact with the others. The rest of the dragons and troopers had been told to keep in mental contact and be ready for action in case there was trouble.

He had only been at the research lab for a few minutes some months before, trying to find out why he'd been called there from Luna, when he'd been called back to the temple grounds. He'd told one of the researchers at the time that he would return later, but he hadn't imagined it would be this long before he had a chance to come back.

He'd never quite figured out why he'd been asked to come to Mars on the Badger in the first place, but there seemed to be more behind it than he had first suspected. He chuckled quietly at the thoughts from the others as he climbed the steps to the lab's main building, hoping he might be able to find some answers.

[MWBailey]

Kilpatrick gulped down his drink, set the empty pint glass in the shrub pot, and called out, "C'mon, Corp, we're fixing tae leav--!" and stopped short when he turned all the way 'round and found Lance Corporal Morrison right behind him. Morrison grasped Kilpatrick by the elbow and brought him around the shrub and both stood ramrod straight close by the table where Grey and Pennypecker sat.

Morrison said, "Ready when you are, Sah! --Er, an' sorry about Private Kilpatrick bein' obvious, sah."
---------------------------------------------------
Back aboard the Widow's Son, as he sorted through the contents of the Trooper's Onboard Arsenal, Bailey found a box marked 'grenades' that Jack Pulsifer had left with the Ship's Chandler, telling him it was 'for the Dragon Corps, a gift from me to Commander Bailey.' Bailey swore under his breath when he unlatched the wooden crate and opened it, seeing that it contained a full 100 of the frighteningly-powerful 'Mondragon Grenades,' and then closed and latched it, and gingerly shoved it to one of the troopers helping with the inventory. 

"Get a brush and that black paint over there," he said, "and black out where it says 'grenades,' and then either write or stencil 'Mondragon Aether Devices' and 'exercise extreme caution' all over it. These're the same kind of devices as what blew the crap out of the Drene-vah cliffs and nearly obliterated that volcano on Venus. Got it? Good, carry on."

Bailey shook his head. Kirza sensed his tension and near-distress, and asked What is wrong, MW?

Nothing wrong exactly, he sent back, just Mad Jack's tendency toward understatement. That was a crate of those bloody 'Mondragon Grenades' as Mad Jack calls 'em. He sent 'em to me in care of the Chandler, labelling 'em simply as 'grenades.' I shudder to think what would happen if somebody tried to actually use one like they would a simple grenade... Sometimes I wonder how he manages to avoid blowing himself and his little ship to smithereens..."

[Theosophus Grey]

In any case we need to act quickly or well lose any advantage.”

"Quite right sir, let's be about our business" Grey replied.  "Kilpatrick! Finish your pint, then report back to the ship and have Mr. Bailey sound 'Recall' for the crew ashore and complete all loading.  I expect the turbines to be spun up and ready when I return.  Morrison, please retrieve Mr. Vilhaus from the Botanical Society and meet us aboard. 

I will accompany Mr. Pennypecker to his hotel, and arrange for his and the good doctor's luggage to be brought about immediately.  I expect to launch within the hour, is that understood?"

A slim figure at the bar quietly checked their watch, and contemplated how little time they had to find their way aboard the Widow's Son...

[Matthias Pennypecker]

Pennypecker, Vandenberg and Captian Grey arrived at the Widows sons docking port with a porter behind them with their luggage on a cart.

Pennypecker had his writing satchel slung over his shoulder as he always did, and a second pouch for film slates and camera lenses. Over his other shoulder hooked with one arm, he carried his Novelette camera mounted on its tripod. Pennypecker had learned long ago that if he wanted photos to go with his stories he better be able to take them himself. He had lost more then one photographer on the way to a story.

Pennypecker and Vandenberg stopped in front of the ship looking up in awe.

“Wow!, she’s a beauty I got to get one for the readers!” Pennypecker swore.

With in a moment he had his camera set and the flash pan held high. In fact just in time for a small group of men to be disembarking down the ramp. Only to be blinded by the popping flash of Pennypecker’s camera.

“Fantastic this is going to be one hellofa story!” Pennypecker marched up to the men who were still rubbing their eyes and started shaking hands.

“Glad to meet you all! M. H. Pennypecker newspaperman, a pleasure. Nice ship! Oh! I am sorry Otto. This is Otto Vandenberg of the Olympus Mons Observatory.
Say, Captian Grey!
Do you mind if I take some photos if the inside of the ship and your men once were on the way?”

[Theosophus Grey]

"Not at all, sir, with the exception of the bridge and other secure areas - Mr. Bailey will see to your escort.  Now if you will excuse me, the purser will take you to your quarters while I see to our final loading and launch."

Secure areas, indeed Grey thought as he made his way forward.  While the new ship was certainly sleek and sturdy despite it apparent conventionality of design, they had a few secrets of their own to hide.  The Spear's firing tests had been staged in vacuum on an asteroid to avoid any detection of its monstrous energy discharge; and the alloyed hull plating had been reverse-engineered from debris collected during their engagement with the Schatzenjaeger out on the rim. Most of all, the new aetherscrews were of a unique and not entirely stable design; while infinately more efficient than the standard, they required constant adjustment by a specialized engineering crew.

Stepping onto the bridge, Grey set aside his worries to focus on the job at hand; after all, the ship's officers were all Freemasons, even though the crew was not...

[MWBailey]

"Morrison!" Bailey shouted, and lance corporal Morrison trotted over side of teh hatchwayr, flushed in the face and apparently expecting a tonguelashing. "Mr. Penny packer, I believe you've already met Corporal Morrison; if you will, Corporal, please escort Mr. Pennypacker on a photo-opportunity tour of the ship. be sure to avoid teh areas we drilled for in the exercise." Bailey had expected that if there were passengers aboard, they'd want to be shutterbugs, so he had drilled and explained  about the tendencies of curious, prying tourists and passengers, and which areas to keep them away from.

"Roight this way, Mr. Pennypacker," Morrison said, "Mind the rubber folding seam in the gangway, it helps seal the embarkation port during spaceflight -- and also makes a nice place to trip people who are embarking, haha." He gestured to either side of the hatchway. "The twin Hydraulic Door manipulation Engines are a special design especially developed for the 'Dubble Ya,' as we crewfolk call 'er...

Morrison conducted the fascinated reporter throughout the ship, avoiding sensitive areas such as the Spear Operations Facility and any farther into the Dragon Corps Billet than the relatively huge Main Activity Area in the center of the Billet, and the corridor that took one there."Yes, sir, it is indeed a fact that the human and dragon companion Troopers both use similar types of knives; the humans use the time-honored Khukhuri knives introduced by Commander Bailey and now-Captain Mercourt. The dragons use a blade called a 'kirpa,' their traditional fighting and ritual blade, that is nearly identical to the khukhuri. The dragons and their companions, and in fact the entirety of the squadron, much of the time, converse using both human dialects, a bit of draconic, as it's called, and a type of telepathy. Sorry, I know that must sound far-fetched, but it's true, although the way they described it in the papers back during the recent Martian Conflict sort of blew it all out of all proportion."

He then showed the awestruck man the bridge and control decks, but forbade more than long-distance shots of any of the consoles or instrumentation, and only at angles that would make blowups of same useless for espionage purposes. "Sorry, sir, but them's my orders; we have few secrets aboard, sir, but what we do have we intend to keep. Nothing personal, you know."

He escorted Pennypecker from the bridge to the passenger area, and to his cabin, showed him the various communication and comfort amenities, how the zero-gravity toilet operated "just in case, sir; one never knows, does one?" and said, "Well, sir, that completes the Grand Tour. "Just call on the intercom for the concierge by pressing the green button like I  showed you, sir, if you need anything. Good Day to you, sir, and have a pleasant voyage."

[Alexis Voltaire]

The interior of the rust-colored stone building was open and slightly dark, lit only by the skylights in the high roof and small desk and floor lamps. Where wood beams would have been overhead were steel rafters covered by ornately stamped brass, a style common of the buildings on Luna and Mars where wood was not easily obtainable.

An unusual-looking orange and red vine crept through the metal rafters and around the skylights from its perch in a wide window box, and sitting in a darker corner was a collection of various-sized glass jars containing something that glowed faint shades of purple and blue.

He was greeted by an older man who introduced himself as Jamesson. "Just took over here after Raymond went missing." He said "It's taken us a while to get things up and running here, the place was a bit of a wreck when we got back... Just a minute, I left something in the back room." Jamesson said, heading toward the hallway a the back of the room.

Frank noticed a few old-looking metal fragments sitting on one of the desks along with a few half-unpacked crates. The brasslike metal was covered with stamped symbols, some of which looked oddly familiar.

"Some of Raymond's old collection," Jamesson explained as he returned with what he had been looking for. "Collecting ancient artifacts was a hobby of his, most of those he found in the old ruins in the area."

Jamesson handed him a bundle of papers loosely bound into what looked like a journal. "This was all I could find, though I don't know how much help it will be. Raymond wasn't much good at keeping records. Most of what he kept was in here, but not a lot of it makes any sense."

"Alright, I'll see if I can figure out anything." Frank said, looking through a few of the pages. It looked as though they were either very disorganized records of research and supply shipments, or a code of some sort for something else.

They talked for a while longer until Morrison came to tell Frank that the ship was nearly ready to depart. Shi Mirak and Shi-iri were waiting for them outside, and the four of them flew back to where the ship was docked. (it was nearly half an hour's walk back to the aetherterminal otherwise.)

Morrison went to show Pennypecker around the ship upon reporting back, and Frank and Shi-iri returned to the common area with the rest of the troopers as the crew of the Widow's Son prepared for takeoff.

[Matthias Pennypecker]

In high orbit around Mars two ships received word that The Widows Son would soon be departing. The message, sent from the surface was short and to the point.

Let the Widow Son leave Mars space.
Then intercept and destroy, leave no one alive.
Then, rendezvous on Callisto.
R. P. Drake
 

[MWBailey]

At the apex of her outer-limits, eccentric orbit around teh sun, out at the furthest fringes of the solar system and almost among the High Trilidian Asteroid field, the two-man crew of the mining ship Jaguarundi spotted some odd activity going on above Mars and all along the multiple-well route to Jupiter. They had been monitoring what little intelligible radio and Aetherphone traffic made it out that far, and were growing increasingly concerned for their fellows on board the Widow's Son, even though their actual duty, of which they had yet to be relieved, was to stand 'guard' over a gutted old hulk that had been loaded up with iron, molybdenum, and iridium nodules to increase her mass and a rudimentary aether-and-steam-jet drive installed to fake it up as if it were teh Archive shipthat had actually already reported to a secret and secure location in anothe rpart of teh solar system and offloaded its precious cargo.

The ruse was an elaborate one; Captain Jeroboam had even renamed his ship the Sun Dog, the better to convince the enemy that the archive boat was still unaccounted for. He was now plying a tourist excursion/colonial supply business between Terra and the Trilidian Belt, reopening old avenues of trade that had been dormant and even derelict ever since the first German invasion of the Belt almost a decade and a half before. A smattering of other traders had joined in and a loose consortium of sorts now existed for that purpose. But no one to this day had ever guessed the true location of the rescued cargo, and even Grey himself did not know. Bailey did, but he did not know that he knew it; it was encoded into a verse of a song that became popular to dance to around the same time: the St. Vitus Waltz.

But Cal and Zhie, both beyond their youth (and neither especially fond of dancing anywhere but omn a nice, safe station), kept at the Ruse day in and day out, in the high, frigid darkness where even the very sun only cast a wan light and almost no heat. The ship ran mostly on aether energy garnered from her turbines, and on hydrogen extracted from water ice (and used to fire the boiler) gathered from the occasional cometary nucleus; they ate a lot of cometweed, did Cal and Zhie. They also got new oxygen and water for the  boiler (and for drinking after boiling it on the galley stove, storing the boiled water in a huge 'Potable Water Only' tank in the same galley) and other gases from the ice, scrubbed and recycled the old gases, and generally made do. Occasionally, a 'stroid would drift by and they would blast it to harmless dust with the Tesla guns. Every once on a while, a little debris (euphemistically dubbed 'civilization packets' by Cal), would float by and they would haul them in with a tractor beam, and pick them apart for usable metals or other materials. Sometimes these pieces, most often flotsam and jetsam from shipwrecks set orbitally adrift by some planet's gravity well, contained old newspapers or books. These were avidly read until they fell to pieces, then the pages and covers used to add to the insulation and paper over the walls where they had been scraped or scratched in some mishap or other. they noticed one day, redently, that the potted palm had started bearing fruit; they turned out to be very good dates, which so far had livened up the two companions' diets considerably.

Yes, they were bored. So bored that the renewed activity above Mars looked intensely interesting...
------------------------------------------------
"Zhie, lets send a coded snippet to the Widow's Son, make it via the old MoonDragon Telepathic Relay network." Zhie and Cal then began to concentrate together. Soon, the message was received by Korza and Main Command Dragons and their Companions aboard the Widow's Son, by way of the Moon Dragons at Victoria, and then by the resident Dragons on Mars.
--------------------------------
Bailey wrote down the actual decoded message:

Increased Non British Military and paramilitary radio traffic concerning your ship. Activity in high orbit above Mars, suggest extreme caution and precautions. It may be small but it sure sounds big.

By the way, it sure is lonesome 'way up here.

Best Wishes and Good Hunting,

--Cal Frommaguerre and Zhie
(aboard Jaguarundi)

He took the note to the Bridge, Where he was directed to the captain's Ready Room. Finally, he knocked, entered, went through the usual protocol and then said, "This just arrived from our friends up in high System Orbit, cap'n." He handed Grey the decoded note. "It's like old times, seems to me, Sir" Bailey said, a slight hint of gleeful anticipation in his voice as he spoke, his hand apparently involuntarily caressing the hilt of his khukhuri. "Shall I put the lads and lasses on alert?"

[Matthias Pennypecker]

Pennypecker returned to his cabin to settle in. Before unpacking his he set up the aethergraph transmitter. He sent in the first installment of what would be a series of the expeditions progress. The aethergraph  transmitter, was a closed circuit transmitter. So it was secure against eavesdropping. In fact the only way to even receve the coaded messages was to have a aethergraph receiver. Since the device was a prototype, only four of them existed. All owned by William Randolph Hearst.
 
Pennypecker was more then a little surprised to find a message from a W.R. Hearst himself coming in! Even more surprising it was not for Pennypecker but for Theosophus Grey Commander of the Widow's Son!

Pennypecker read over the ticker tape message. It was gibberish to him, as was  intended by Hearst himself Pennypecker mused. He was more then curious as to its meaning.  The part about a questing knight who is betrayed by false brothers. Pennypecker swore he had heard that line before. As if reading his mind, Hearst had left a brief instruction for him at the end of the message.

“Pennypecker! Mind your own business and deliver the message! URGENT!”
W.R.H.
Pennypecker, left his cabin and headed up to the bridge.

[MWBailey]

I'm sorry, Sir, but the Bridge is off-limits to passengers during takeoff, landing, and defensive/offensive procedures,--oh, I see, sir!" the squad leader of the Bridge security detail had been briefed to let any and all private messages through. LC Gerson was not a mason, but he was aware of the masonic hegemony among the officers aboard the 'Dubbleya,' and figured that the message was something to do with that.  He called it in on his uniform radio, and the instruction came through to let Pennypecker in and send him to the Ready Room, which he did post haste. "Go roight in, sir, but be prepared to sit where they tell you to; sometimes takeoffs can be rough."

[Alexis Voltaire]

Frank took a seat next to Shi-iri on one of the wide benches around the edge of the main activity area, and began to look more closely at the journal he'd gotten from Jamesson.

It really did appear to be more of a journal than anything as he read through it. In between the usual records for supplies and notations of the work at the lab were pages from old books and handwritten notes describing the architecture of some of the ruins on Mars. There were also sketches of symbols that looked similar to the ones he'd seen on Mars, and on the metal fragments back at the lab.

What are you reading? Shi-iri asked with interest, looking over his shoulder at the notes.

A journal, of sorts, that I got back at the lab. He sent privately in reply. Seems to be where Raymond kept records of what went on in Syrtis. He was the one who sent me the message to come to Mars on the Badger, and he also sent me the letter and the revolver that I got back at Iceberg. Apparently no one at the Botanical Society's main office back on earth is really sure why I got sent to Mars either, since there's no official record of it. They asked me to see if I could find out anything about it, since I was coming back here anyway.

Hmm, and you think there is something else written here? She asked, sensing his suspicions.

I'm not sure yet, but it seems possible. He almost wondered if he was being a little too suspicious of the whole situation, paperwork errors and people forgetting to write things down happened all the time. It wasn't as though it really had any connection to what he'd gotten involved in afterwards. Or did it? Was that the whole point? He thought, wondering how things might have turned out if he'd gotten Raymond's letter in time to meet him at the docks in Syrtis the day the Badger had landed...

[MWBailey]

Kirza and Bailey had been sparring with two other pairs; when the sparring bout was over, Kirza saw Shi Iri and Frank looking over a sheaf of documents and wandered over to see what they were. Bailey gave instructions to one of the sparring partners about which next pair of pairs to bring to the mats, then joined Kirza beside Frank and Shi Iri.

"What's that, Frank? You look troubled, is it something we can help you with?"

 

[Matthias Pennypecker]

Onboard The Amadeus, Captain de Rossi was convinced he had made a dreadful mistake in accepting the Belgians contract. No sooner did the Amadeus launch and get on the way, did he suffer the first setback.

 An explosion in the engine room, that still was not sufficiently explained. Then the attack by belt pirates. Up in till now, Captain de Rossi had never heard of the pirates venturing this close to the heavily patrolled Mars space. Since then de Rossi has been avoiding any ships, that the ships scope spotted. He also changed his heading to a longer course that was less likely to encounter any another ships. It was almost as if someone was trying to prevent them from reaching their destination.

Even that was not the least of his problems, these mercenaries were causing all kinds of trouble with his crew. Especially the three crew members who happened to be women. This Lieutenant-Colonel Louis Danjou was an cold arrogant son-of-a. As was most of his men, the entire lot of them were former French Foreign Legion. Captain de Rossi, had little doute that in a fight these men would be like wolves but right now they were bored and lad little else to do but try and antagonize his men. 

Meanwhile, LaFrange was getting pushier as time went by. de Rossi was becoming increase more convinced that the Belgian wasn’t telling him everything. He was acting as if their was a race of some kind to get to this rock in space. Every time de Rossi asked questions about what was going on he was coldly rebuffed. Made him feel like, if it was not for Danjou and his men, Captain de Rossi would have loved to shoved LaFrange out an airlock.

[Theosophus Grey]

"It's like old times, seems to me, Sir" Bailey said, a slight hint of gleeful anticipation in his voice as he spoke, his hand apparently involuntarily caressing the hilt of his khukhuri. "Shall I put the lads and lasses on alert?"

"Not yet, Sargeant-Major, that could show our hand to anyone watching that we've been tipped off; I'd recommend a few 'drills' to familiarize the Corps with the new ship, et cetera" Grey replied, handing the note back to Mr. Bailey.  (The old soldiers' return to private-service NCO rank aboard the 'W' seemed to suit him better than the officer's bars had; in any case, there appeared to be no ill will when he had recomended that young Frank retain his commission as nominal commander of the Dragon Corp - the two of them worked together as well as ever.)  "And I agree about 'old times' - I took this command with the understanding that our role in the greater scheme of things had not yet played itself out, and am quite looking forward to the... unexpected."

As if on cue, the yeoman rapped on the pocket door to the ready room and ushered in Mr. Pennypecker, flushed with his usual excitement.  "Captain!  I was filing my first story about our journey - capital stuff, really, should make for some fine trade, I warrant - when I was directed by Mr. Hearst to deliver this message to you; odd stuff, really..." he concluded, handing the tickertape slip to Grey, who cordially waved him to a chair to catch his breath and offered him a brandy.  Sipping his drink, the journalist glanced interestedly at the large, moustachioed man standing at attention before the Captain's desk - Sargeant Bailey, if he recalled properly, and rather heavily armed for being aboard ship.

Grey finished the length of the tickertape with a studied casualness, before winding it up and slipping it into the pocket of his heavy bridge coat.  "Thank you, Mr. Pennypecker" he said; "Your employer wished to communicate his desire for an epic flavor to our journey, and was citing some of his favorite bits of literature as examples; I'm certain we can satisfy his needs for colorful reports from the aether.  Now, if you will excuse me, I am late meeting with my officers; but please, refresh yourself and join us for dinner at half-past seven in the mess, I look forward to hearing of your exploits."