Chapter 33 - You Flirt With A Captain, Among Other Things.

You tap the keys on your arm rest and bring up a set of options. 

"What'cha doing now?" Zoraida asks. 

"Hailing Captain," You think for a moment, "Nuvair. She did seem like she had more to say, didn't she?" You look over your shoulder as Zoraida's half lidded eyes match a smug smile.

"Yeah, she did seem to have something on her mind," She nods. "Well, if you're going to be chatting her up, I'm going to put list together of things we need to restock once we get to a proper port."

"Real food sounds good." You shake your head. "No more Meals Ready to Excrete." You shake your head and rolls you shoulders. 

"Definitely." Zoraida agrees as she leans back and begins to inventory your ship's supplies. You face forward and bring up the communications. With some help from Anagyros's avatar, you work your way through it and hail the Massive vessel leading you along. 

Once again, a square appears in front of you, and Captain Nuvair is sitting center. However this time, instead of the previous background, it appears she's in some sort of office or briefing room. She sits back in the chair and raises a hand in greeting. Her face is flushed and you watch as her eyes dilate from narrow slits.

"Captain Eclipse, I wasn't expected to speak to you quite so promptly after my own call concluded." A bright blue tongue flicks out to lick across her plump lips, as they curl into a smile. "Though I admit, I'm glad you did." 

"Well we did get interrupted before," You explain and she nods, "Plus I came up with a few more questions going over the data you sent." She nods again and reaches off screen to pick up a sealed drink packet. She takes a pull from a the straw before replying.

"Well, for starters, I think I've found a missing member of my Crew, Doctor Tomoe Maeda." You reveal and she cocks her head.

"That name rings a bell. Wait," She checks her own files. "She... she put out a rather odd looking travel advert."

"Yeah, that's her. Definitely."

"Well... the Highlands are part of the span of land between the AMR and the DCoA..." She runs off the acronyms with a casual professionalism. "Technically, most of it is our territory but they're all fault mountains and glaciers. We found that several scientific groups enjoy the cold for certain experiments." She states, matter of factually, "We also found that renting glacier space could prove lucrative, in a number of ways."

"What kind of experiments?" You ask, curious. She smiles you see a stenciled eyebrow rise. "Yeah, that's probably confidential, or classified."

"Both, actually. But I can say that the funds acquired from the leases certainly contributed to building this ship."

"That's practically a given." You reply, and she nods. "But if it's Vedari territory, then... I guess you would be the best person to ask for permission to land there?"

"I can send word ahead that you'll be heading in that direction. However, knowing what lab center she's using is the real question. People come this far out for privacy so there isn't exactly a directory."

"There's multiple 'centers'?" You ask, she seems to be on a roll, and she seems genuinely interested in talking to you.

"Five, across the major range. Some people do bring their politics with them so having a certain degree of separation keeps things from heating up." She smiles. You chuckle at the joke and Alisa smiles wider. She's got shark like teeth, but that's hardly off putting. "I do hope you find her without issue." She replies and you thank her for her well wishes. 

"What were you going to mention, before we got interrupted, earlier?" You ask, thinking on the previous conversation.

"Well, I was about to remark on how our neighbors see our fleet as unnecessary and a waste of materials. What with their own fleets already patrolling the system."

"I think they're more concerned that your species will get its footing and take the lead before one of their nations do. You are the native species for the system, correct?"

"Yes. Our ancestors spread over what became Aulus a long time ago, but then the Great Failure came to pass and we were forced to live beneath the Surface, and adapt to that manner of life. We don't feel we need to 'claim' the system as our own. Just as long as everyone is protecting it from external threats and not harming one another, we can argue and debate the finer details without military motivations."  She sighs. "But I don't think you called to ask me about history or politics."

"Maybe not, but maybe so." You scroll and select a number of of the 'Missing' files. "Maybe I've been out of the loop for a while, but this many people being posted to the system wide missing board is unusual, isn't it?" You share the files along the channel and Captain Nuvair nods, and takes a professional posture.

"People go missing every day." She shrugs. "But these people, or rather their absences, are interesting, besides most of them being in the AMR, all were Vistors from outside of the system and there are some details that a connect them." You'd noticed that most of the disappearances had been in one region but what other connection was there, you ask and she proceeds. 

"Two of them are Doctors with who were leasing labs on the Glaciers, however they also had rented residences in Hegrada and the AMR 'surface port' connected to it. It's the city cavern nearest to the Glacier and one of the places a person might register for lease space there.

"So, could they be doing some kind of research that someone doesn't want exposed?"

"I've been briefed, and what I may tell you is that what they were working on was harmless. Not a waste of time or money, but not something to kill over."

"Maybe not, but have any off world scientists been found dead yet?"

"Not as such, but it's a planet, after all. There's plenty of places to bury a body." She replies and you realize that the work of detectives, police, and authorities grows exponentially more difficult, especially on worlds not secured with orbital security networks or with vast tracks of easily reached unsettled land. 

"That's troubling. But I suppose there's only so much that can be done?" You shrug, and she nods. It's not a fun thought.  "Speaking of what can be done," You pause, and realize the double meaning you've stepped in. "There are a few other help ads that caught my eye."

"The Dragon, I wager?" Alisa asks.

"Yeah, what's the deal with that?" You watch as the read out on the distant station grows closer.

"Well, she showed up out of the black, a Dragon Vessel dropped her off and she spent several months traveling Aulus Prime, popping in and out and causing such a mess."

"Trouble maker?" You ask. 

"No, it's more like everyone wanted to see what a Dragon was doing this far away from their space, and on her own, and she was just trying to NOT have everyone poking into her business. She handled it quite well, all things considered."

"Oh?" You prod, and let her continue her story.

"Yes, only a dozen broken limbs and maybe twenty fractured ribs, by the time people got the hint that provoking a Dragon's personal space is a bad idea." She laughs. "I swear, the press. They learn by doing, even when they can see its not a good idea." She chuckles.

You look at the read out and realize that between your conversations and realize you're almost at Aulus VI and you can see a star port register on your sensors. There's some static in your wake too, maybe your sensors were damaged from the sudden jump you made? Add that to the list of things to worry about.

What else do you want to talk to the Captain about? What do you want to do next?