(013) Phlume [1611 Spinward Marches]

[bruce.desertrat]

Jask Terlain talks to Pedro about where the ship is headed next and offers to introduce him to a local import/export broker named Sam Green who will give them a better deal than the cooperate ones, like LSP or Delgado.

Pedro says "We're under contract with LSP to do a passenger run along their regional offices; We're off towards... " he gestures towards Sigrun "..her the other side of the border, Rangent, next, then back along the same line to Regina again." He smiles, "But our cargo hold is ours to fill." He tales a sip. "It would seem, though that what you export here is happy memories, photographs and tropies, mainly."

EDIT Been a long time since I looked at the map and was completely turned around about where we were..for some reason I thought we were headed mainly rimward towards the Sword worlds, clear;y I am NOT the navigator of the crew!

He leans back. "It's a bit overwhelming, to think of an entire world as a preserved garden world. The closest a beltowda like me ever came was playing in the hydroponics dome." He pauses, pensively, "But then, you have all this... " he waves towards the ceiling "all this...air..between you and the stars. Out there they're like a vast carpet of jewels. Photons from a billion years in the past lighting your way."

Finally the dinner is over as is an hour of drinks afterward and the other guest begin to depart. Helga asks if you, the crew, will remain behind as she and Craig would like to talk with you privately.

[Tiglath]

Helga replies to Sigrun in Sagamaal smiling, saying in translation, "A surprise to meet someone like you on this side of the border."

The Baron nods and smiles to each of you. Then he sits up straight and says to Sigrun, "My Sagamaal is a bit rusty, but I understand you clearly Kapitensleutnant Volsung and it is an honor for me to break bread with a warrior of the Sacnoth."

Sigrun instinctively gives Helga a warrior's robust reply "I saw so much of the Imperial side during the war I decided to stay!"

Then she softens her tone and adds "But perhaps now I stand with a foot on either side of the border". She glances at John Lee with a smile and then drops back into Sagamaal for what appears to sound like an entirely "girly" conversation with Lady Helga. It appears that Sigrun takes great pleasure in conversing in her native tongue.

Sigrun seems entirely respectful of the Baron replying "The honour is mine, Jarl Craig".

She immediately agrees to remain for a private talk with the Baron.

[Keven]

Sigrun respectfully greets Lady Helga with a cheerful smile and a hug and then addresses her in Sagamaal (Swordy) “Tak for velkommen til dit ildsning og hjem”. A warm smile from someone wearing a Sword Worlds Close Combat clasp might seem incongruous or even unnerving but Sigrun's good spirits are genuine.

She goes on to greet the Baron with most a respectful nod and an apparently slightly less crushing version of her usual handshake “Kapitensleutnant Sigrun Volsung, Sacnoth Fleet. Jarl Craig you do me the honour of making me a guest in your hall. Thank you”.

(OOC: Swordy translation service “Thank you for the welcome to your hearth and home”).

Helga replies to Sigrun in Sagamaal smiling, saying in translation, "A surprise to meet someone like you on this side of the border."

The Baron nods and smiles to each of you. Then he sits up straight and says to Sigrun, "My Sagamaal is a bit rusty, but I understand you clearly Kapitensleutnant Volsung and it is an honor for me to break bread with a warrior of the Sacnoth."

There is a half hour of chat where you are asked about the worlds you've visited and the news from Regina as you've been there recently. Then there is the sound of a gong and you all go in for a formal dinner.

The food is delicious and the conversation stays light and chatty as the locals tell you about the delights of Phlume. The President of the Council tells you about photo as well as shooting safaris in the "hinterlands" and the picturesque mountains on the south continent. Jask Terlain talks to Pedro about where the ship is headed next and offers to introduce him to a local import/export broker named Sam Green who will give them a better deal than the cooperate ones, like LSP or Delgado. Lady Helga asks of news of the Sword Worlds from Sigrun and mentions a few families, unfortunately Sigrun doesn't know them although she has heard of a couple of the families, high up in politics.

Finally the dinner is over as is an hour of drinks afterward and the other guest begin to depart. Helga asks if you, the crew, will remain behind as she and Craig would like to talk with you privately.

Carlos starts getting that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

[joertexas]

Carlos starts getting that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Zaki senses his mood change, and she gently squeezes his arm in reassurance.

[bruce.desertrat]

Finally the dinner is over as is an hour of drinks afterward and the other guest begin to depart. Helga asks if you, the crew, will remain behind as she and Craig would like to talk with you privately.

Pedro says "Certainly, Lady Helga."

[Eris]

Finally the dinner is over as is an hour of drinks afterward and the other guest begin to depart. Helga asks if you, the crew, will remain behind as she and Craig would like to talk with you privately.

Pedro says "Certainly, Lady Helga."

After the last guest, other than the crew leave, the Baron says, "This is my wife's idea. I don't oppose it, but I don't hold out much hope for it working. She has never shown much interest in being here."

"I'll leave you to Helga so she can explain. Good night, I've enjoyed meeting and talking with you. If you take my wife up on her offer...well, I wish you luck with pulling it off, but I'm not going to get my hopes up.", with that he rolls away in a wheelchair leaving you with Lady Helga.

"Please, have a seat." she says, "What I am asking is a favor to our family. I am appreciative that you will let me tell you what I'd like you to try to do, even if you don't undertake my request."

She sits down and invites all of you to do the same.

"Craig and I, we have two children." she begins adding with a sigh, "The eldest is dead. Artur died fighting in the war that many of you missed. There is nothing anyone can do about that, but we also have a daughter."

"Frida Marie was a different child. She was totally uninterested in the military, totally uninterested in politics. She was very much a rebel...with any number of quixotic causes. She and her father did not get along. They were too different in some ways, too much alike in others."

"As she went through her teenage years her focus went to academics, to science. Frankly, Freddy is much more intelligent than any of us. " Helga twists her hands together, "She went off to university. After that, she visited rarely, and less and less often as the years went by." Helga says with a sigh, "Last I heard from her she was on Tionale, only one parsec from here. She wrote that she was going into the 'outback' to study the 'Sixes'. That's the native species there."

"Freddy said they were an intelligent specie that had never been studied and they certainly deserved to be. Even if no one else though so." Helga looks up with a twisted smile on her face, "Frida Marie at her finest, jumping into a project no one else is interested in with both feet!

Sighing she sits back, "Anyway, what I am asking of you is to stop on Tionale and find Frida. Deliver a letter to her from me. If she will come back with you bring her back. Her father wants to see her, though he is loath to admit it. He needs to see her before it is too late."

Quietly she adds, "I need to see her, too."

[terrymixon]

Finally the dinner is over as is an hour of drinks afterward and the other guest begin to depart. Helga asks if you, the crew, will remain behind as she and Craig would like to talk with you privately.

Pedro says "Certainly, Lady Helga."

After the last guest, other than the crew leave, the Baron says, "This is my wife's idea. I don't oppose it, but I don't hold out much hope for it working. She has never shown much interest in being here."

"I'll leave you to Helga so she can explain. Good night, I've enjoyed meeting and talking with you. If you take my wife up on her offer...well, I wish you luck with pulling it off, but I'm not going to get my hopes up.", with that he rolls away in a wheelchair leaving you with Lady Helga.

"Please, have a seat." she says, "What I am asking is a favor to our family. I am appreciative that you will let me tell you what I'd like you to try to do, even if you don't undertake my request."

She sits down and invites all of you to do the same.

"Craig and I, we have two children." she begins adding with a sigh, "The eldest is dead. Artur died fighting in the war that many of you missed. There is nothing anyone can do about that, but we also have a daughter."

"Frida Marie was a different child. She was totally uninterested in the military, totally uninterested in politics. She was very much a rebel...with any number of quixotic causes. She and her father did not get along. They were too different in some ways, too much alike in others."

"As she went through her teenage years her focus went to academics, to science. Frankly, Freddy is much more intelligent than any of us. " Helga twists her hands together, "She went off to university. After that, she visited rarely, and less and less often as the years went by." Helga says with a sigh, "Last I heard from her she was on Tionale, only one parsec from here. She wrote that she was going into the 'outback' to study the 'Sixes'. That's the native species there."

"Freddy said they were an intelligent specie that had never been studied and they certainly deserved to be. Even if no one else though so." Helga looks up with a twisted smile on her face, "Frida Marie at her finest, jumping into a project no one else is interested in with both feet!

Sighing she sits back, "Anyway, what I am asking of you is to stop on Tionale and find Frida. Deliver a letter to her from me. If she will come back with you bring her back. Her father wants to see her, though he is loath to admit it. He needs to see her before it is too late."

Quietly she adds, "I need to see her, too."

Emily is agreeable but she’ll let the leadership handle the response.

[joertexas]

Sighing she sits back, "Anyway, what I am asking of you is to stop on Tionale and find Frida. Deliver a letter to her from me. If she will come back with you bring her back. Her father wants to see her, though he is loath to admit it. He needs to see her before it is too late."

Quietly she adds, "I need to see her, too."

Zaki uses her HUD to pull up information on Tionale. "The Sixes and the colonists aren't on friendly terms right now," she says. "There's a travel advisory in place. On the plus side, nearly all the colonists live close to the down port."

[Tiglath]

Sigrun offers "Tionale is over the border but on route to Rangent. If we find Frida Marie and put her aboard a ship bound back here then we wouldn't even lose time on the run".

Then, clearly conflicted, she adds "If Zaki says there's trouble on Tionale then that means an extra layer of trouble. It's maybe not really somewhere we should go to show off our valuable Ling cargo. In fairness it's more of a smugglers' port and a no questions asked repair base than a pirate operation but there's still a better chance of running into a corsair there than most other places".

Irked she then adds "Having said that I'd like to help find Frida Marie".

[joertexas]

Sigrun offers "Tionale is over the border but on route to Rangent. If we find Frida Marie and put her aboard a ship bound back here then we wouldn't even lose time on the run". She then adds "Zaki says there's trouble there which on Tionale means an extra layer of trouble. It's maybe not really somewhere we should show off our valuable Ling cargo. In fairness it's more of a smugglers' port and not a pirate operation but there's still a better chance of running into a corsair there than most other places".

"Maybe we can divert there on our way back here," Zaki suggests.

[Keven]

Sigrun offers "Tionale is over the border but on route to Rangent. If we find Frida Marie and put her aboard a ship bound back here then we wouldn't even lose time on the run". She then adds "Zaki says there's trouble there which on Tionale means an extra layer of trouble. It's maybe not really somewhere we should show off our valuable Ling cargo. In fairness it's more of a smugglers' port and not a pirate operation but there's still a better chance of running into a corsair there than most other places".

"Maybe we can divert there on our way back here," Zaki suggests.

"It's off to the side, dear. A parsec to spinward. And outside the Imperium. It'll take us an additional 2 weeks to get back to Regina, 3 or 4 if we have to double back here first."

[bruce.desertrat]

"Freddy said they were an intelligent specie that had never been studied and they certainly deserved to be. Even if no one else though so." [/dialog]Helga looks up with a twisted smile on her face, "Frida Marie at her finest, jumping into a project no one else is interested in with both feet!

Sighing she sits back, "Anyway, what I am asking of you is to stop on Tionale and find Frida. Deliver a letter to her from me. If she will come back with you bring her back. Her father wants to see her, though he is loath to admit it. He needs to see her before it is too late."

Quietly she adds, "I need to see her, too."

Pedro is silent for a moment, looking at Lady Helga with a far off expression in his eyes. "Kelaugra ke trajan pis. ..." He focuses back on her "Something my aunt used to say, 'Family wields the sharpest knives.' "

He looks around the room. " May I beg your leave to answer you tomorrow? My heart says of course we will, but my head says this is a decision we must discuss, not the least for our existing contract; we are expected at Rangent. We will be here at least another couple days."

[Eris]

"Freddy said they were an intelligent specie that had never been studied and they certainly deserved to be. Even if no one else though so." [/dialog]Helga looks up with a twisted smile on her face, "Frida Marie at her finest, jumping into a project no one else is interested in with both feet!

Sighing she sits back, "Anyway, what I am asking of you is to stop on Tionale and find Frida. Deliver a letter to her from me. If she will come back with you bring her back. Her father wants to see her, though he is loath to admit it. He needs to see her before it is too late."

Quietly she adds, "I need to see her, too."

Pedro is silent for a moment, looking at Lady Helga with a far off expression in his eyes. "Kelaugra ke trajan pis. ..." He focuses back on her "Something my aunt used to say, 'Family wields the sharpest knives.' "

He looks around the room. " May I beg your leave to answer you tomorrow? My heart says of course we will, but my head says this is a decision we must discuss, not the least for our existing contract; we are expected at Rangent. We will be here at least another couple days."

"I can understand if it takes you out of your way." Helga sighs, then adds, "If it will help you decide in our favor I will pay you 10,000 credits to take the message to Frida, 20,000 if you bring back some communication from her and 50,000 if you bring her back with you."


"If it is a matter of smoothing over difficulties with Ling I can, perhaps, have a chat with Ling's factor here on Phlume." she says, "I don't do it often, but a Baroness does have some influence on things."

[Eris]

Sigrun offers "Tionale is over the border but on route to Rangent. If we find Frida Marie and put her aboard a ship bound back here then we wouldn't even lose time on the run".

Then, clearly conflicted, she adds "If Zaki says there's trouble on Tionale then that means an extra layer of trouble. It's maybe not really somewhere we should go to show off our valuable Ling cargo. In fairness it's more of a smugglers' port and a no questions asked repair base than a pirate operation but there's still a better chance of running into a corsair there than most other places".

Irked she then adds "Having said that I'd like to help find Frida Marie".

It occurs to several of you that Tionale might also be a good place to sell those grav vehicles you have in your hold. Especially, if you aren't too concerned with who buys them or what they plan to do with them after they buy them. There also might be some "interesting" goods for sale there.... Just saying!

[Tiglath]

Sigrun replies levelly "Lady Helga it might reassure Ling if their people remain here enjoying a corporate treat on Phlume, where your influence is strongest, rather than have them visit Tionale. There the administration is so penetrated by intelligence operatives from... all sources that it will be impossible to keep their presence secret".

However, she has made an effort to drink properly so as not to offend her host (this is somewhere way after moderate but before the inability to walk out unaided). She taps the "Blockade Runner" badge on her chest "I commanded a Raiding Squadron. They gave us these because of politics but I grew up as a smuggler. That's how I know places like Tionale". She taps the silver close combat badge. "Twenty five. I can remember them all. I earned this before I became Úlfhéðnar! I am honour bound to serve with my crew but if my Kapiten gives the word I shall bring your daughter home!"

[Eris]

Sigrun replies levelly "Lady Helga it might reassure Ling if their people remain here enjoying a corporate treat on Phlume, where your influence is strongest, rather than have them visit Tionale. There the administration is so penetrated by intelligence operatives from... all sources that it will be impossible to keep their presence secret".

However, she has made an effort to drink properly so as not to offend her host (this is somewhere way after moderate but before the inability to walk out unaided). She taps the "Blockade Runner" badge on her chest "I commanded a Raiding Squadron. They gave us these because of politics but I grew up as a smuggler. That's how I know places like Tionale". She taps the silver close combat badge. "Twenty five. I can remember them all. I earned this before I became Úlfhéðnar! I am honour bound to serve with my crew but if my Kapiten gives the word I shall bring your daughter home!"

"If the Ling manager will agree to it, I'll be happy to put them up at the finest hotel and treat them to the best safari they'll ever have." Helga says, "You know it might take you a month to get to Tionale, find Freida, get back to the Starport and then back here? Do you think the LSP people will all that much slack in their schedule?"

[Tiglath]

Sigrun replies openly "They seem entirely intolerant of anything that disrupts either their ordered lives or indeed their vision of how matters will play out. I don't know much of Ling's organisation but we are on a mission for their sub sector headquarters. The authority of a planetary executive may be insufficient to even change our orders let alone delay us for that long".

She adds "Our passengers are outbound staff ready to start their tour of duty. Your proposal might be easier to sell to Ling on our return leg when we are carrying those who are now between postings but I have no idea how they will react".

[Eris]

Sigrun replies openly "They seem entirely intolerant of anything that disrupts either their ordered lives or indeed their vision of how matters will play out. I don't know much of Ling's organisation but we are on a mission for their sub sector headquarters. The authority of a planetary executive may be insufficient to even change our orders let alone delay us for that long".

She adds "Our passengers are outbound staff ready to start their tour of duty. Your proposal might be easier to sell to Ling on our return leg when we are carrying those who are now between postings but I have no idea how they will react".

"Hum..." Lady Helga thinks a minute, "Let me talk to the Ling people. Your ship is going to be here a couple of days, just doing the refueling and things like that. I'll see what I can work out with them."

"If I do get somewhere with the Ling people, though, are you going to be willing to take the letter to Frieda and try to bring her back here?" she looks back and forth among all of you to see how you respond.

[bruce.desertrat]

Sigrun replies openly "They seem entirely intolerant of anything that disrupts either their ordered lives or indeed their vision of how matters will play out. I don't know much of Ling's organisation but we are on a mission for their sub sector headquarters. The authority of a planetary executive may be insufficient to even change our orders let alone delay us for that long".

She adds "Our passengers are outbound staff ready to start their tour of duty. Your proposal might be easier to sell to Ling on our return leg when we are carrying those who are now between postings but I have no idea how they will react".

"Hum..." Lady Helga thinks a minute, "Let me talk to the Ling people. Your ship is going to be here a couple of days, just doing the refueling and things like that. I'll see what I can work out with them."

"If I do get somewhere with the Ling people, though, are you going to be willing to take the letter to Frieda and try to bring her back here?" she looks back and forth among all of you to see how you respond.

Perdo says "Absolutely, Lady Helga, you have my word."

[Tiglath]

Sigrun gives her vulpine smile and simply says "Já".