Unlike regular taverns, the Surf-n-Turf goes to great lengths to avoid letting patrons get too drunk - especially if they aren't strong swimmers. So the 'Vartan Ale' equivalent is a bit weaker in the alcohol department, but heavier in the protein and carbs, so that it's more like a meat broth with booze mixed in. It's even served warm.
It's also apparently good enough for Lacci, who wanted to try new things anyway. She's got several steak sandwiches before her along with the soupy drink as well as a selection of deep fried vegetables with dipping sauce and spicy chicken wings. She's calmed down enough that she even stopped petting Liza's head once the food arrived, even though her feathers bristled a bit when the Pan server brought it. "This place is confusing and terrifying," the young Vartan admits to Tasha. "But still feels friendly."
They aren't the only 'aliens' in the establishment. While the majority of clientele are Terragens, there are also a few mixed Confederate groups and some Silent-Ones, although the latter sit by themselves while the former have Belters and Karnors mixed in.
"If you travel enough, you get used to that feeling," Tasha advises, and from experience. To say she's traveled to far flung places would be an understatement by now, having traveled to other dimensions, realities, planets, ships, and even through time itself. She sits with a copy of Lacci's own choice of food, having thought it a wonderful way to both experience new things herself and show support while also covering her own general lack of experience in Galactic space. She even urged Liza to sit by Lacci, to further help make this experience a calming one. "And at least we aren't the only aliens. The Surf-and-Turf serves everyone, even Titanians."
"Not surprising," Lacci says, sounding suddenly suspicious. Her expression improves after trying one of her sandwiches though. "Alright.. I guess they probably come for the food more than the company. I specialize in Terran Military History, but this is my first time being up close with all the Terragens species. It's unnerving."
The hybrid cracks a grin. "Being unnerved and suspicious often leads to war, so at the very least you can reflect on that impulse firsthand." She then dips a vegatable -- she doesn't know what it is -- in some sauce and pops it in her mouth, chewing a moment and studying Lacci with Nora-like curiosity and attention, grin turning lopsided. After a moment she notes, "Did you know, I'm a student of Terragens history myself? Specifically, Expedition-era history and Terragens relations, especially the old parts, such as early Karnors." Then she taps the side of her head, distinctly Karnor-like, indicatively.
"I was wondering about that," Lacci admits. "I thought the Galactics had managed to suppress the early generation gene lines. Of course, it still backfired on them." The Vartan shakes her head, and looks around at the other groups. Now there's a Karnor sitting with the Silent-Ones. "Demanded they be less intimidating, and now everyone trusts Karnors, more than just about any other sapient species. And then Pans and Phins act harmless and even goofy, so nobody thinks about how damn dangerous they are."
"Now that's a little unfair. Some of them are very harmless and very goofy." Tasha knows that from experience, too. She then leans in, not wanting to provoke an entire Terragens bar by criticizing them too openly, or loudly for that matter. The longer she remains on the station and the more exposure she gets to Galactic civilization the easier the decorum and caution come to her, which makes her next observation somewhat hypocritical -- and she knows it. "For me, it's the Humans themselves that unnerve me the most. I know several of them, and they look harmless, even awkward -- all that lack of fur or feathers! -- but they're all very sly. Cunning, even. And they made the others, it was the Humans' decision, and all the others are in some part Human themselves." And so is she apparently, which also disturbs her. "I'm never quite sure how I feel about them."
"Oh, you have no idea," Lacci says, leaning in as well. "Their entire history is warfare. Thousands of years of fighting with swords and bows and riding on animals. In any conflict where the Rules of Warfare apply and both sides are using primitive weapons, the one that knows Human tactical history will win. Silent-Ones cavalry use them. And Humans are have a range of motion that only the Celestials can match. The Pans are nearly as agile, and ridiculously strong. Titanian strong. If a boarding party of Pans gets into your ship, there's no point in fighting them, even in power armor. And the dolphins are now the best pilots in Known Space. Better than Vartans and supposedly better than AI. The military powers are rightly concerned about a Vartan-Terran alliance in the future. If our ships had their magic forcefield tech we'd be unstoppable."
"Is being unstoppable really such a good idea?" Tasha is rather certain what making any of the Abaddonian powers 'unstoppable' might lead to, though she has her doubts Vartans would have the ambition. No, she corrects herself, most Vartans wouldn't. There are always exceptions. Exceptions like Kem the outcast, Blackwings the murderous and cruel pirate, and others including herself. There are extraordinary people in any civilization and she reminds herself not to count them out. "But I understand your point. As for Humans, I think they disturb me more than most aliens." Though their cunning isn't entirely why; Tasha still fears they may come to retake the Elite. "I would say Celestials would be next, but I at least I feel I understand their stance if not support it. I know less of the others, even Clan Vartans like yourself."
"The Celestials have dominated Galactic culture for so long they can't think of that not being a permanent influence," Lacci grumbles. "And right now, they have overwhelming military might to back up their beliefs. No single power could stand up to them. But.. if a Vartan-Terran-Confederate alliance was forged even the Silent-Ones would jump in if it meant taking down the Celestials to a more even footing. The Khattans would support it too, I'm sure. It's all their customers after all. I've seen the projections. Even with the Confederate forces being a wildcard, it would work. And it might work without there even being a fight. The Celestials would make concessions if opposed by every other Galactic power at the same time."
"I think so too," Tasha agrees, though not from seeing any projections. The belief the Celestials would fold is based on observation, instinct, and experience dealing with different cultures. There would also be too much to lose and little left to gain unless victory was overwhelming -- and that would be a very unfortunate outcome for everyone else. She suspects the Celestials would waste no time converting the losers as rapidly as possible and putting them solidly under their thumb, they and all their descendants. There would be some free survivors, but the core cultures and people would likely be lost as they are. It's as solid a reason to approach pushing the question as any, even with projected victory. "But the price of failure would also be high. It would be good to have leverage reserved in the event the result didn't follow projections. And, I think, Khattan forces might be convinced if they also decided to ally with the Terrans. prempting Vartan forces would help reduce the impact of a los
s of Clientage, and place certain Houses in a closer position to the new cultural center."
"It's hard to project which way different Houses would go," Lacci admits. "Chances are all of them are already decided, since is something that would definitely be in their own projections. They could sway it either way. Our analysis is that they'll support the Vartans. We know we aren't their first Clients, but that species is extinct now - along with a few former Celestial Clients that graduated their Contracts. The Tandu actually have finished their ten-thousand-year service, but then resubmitted themselves for Client status under the Celestials."
"I haven't heard much about the older Clients. Could you elaborate about them, if you know more?" Tasha inquires, placing her head on her left hand, elbow resting on the table. Absently she picks up a sandwich from her tray and tries dipping it in a sauce, before chewing on it.
"Most of the records have been purged," Lacci admits. "The Celestial heavily modify their Clients. Too much, apparently. It wasn't clear if it was madness, pain or grief but their two earliest Client species committed mass suicide. The Khattans may have originally contracted the Vartans to exterminate their previous Client for whatever reason. All I have to go on are some ancient Vartan records for that. The Khattans never exercised their Patron right to genetically tinker with Vartans though, so the general assumption is that they did do that with a previous Client, and it went bad. And I have no idea if the Confederates engineered themselves or not. They're an enigma, and if any information does exist about it, it's either extremely well hidden or destroyed - just so they don't have to follow Galactic Patron-Client rules."
Throughout the discussion, Liza quietly tends to her own meal - which is a 'vegi-steak' of some sort. Her ears scan around every so often, so it's possible she's eavesdropping on other tables.
"They are an enigma," Tasha agrees, and that is neither a lie nor a evasion. The hybrid woman really doesn't know much about the Confederacy, she would even feel confident in saying they are the Galactic power she understands the least. She knows of the Celestials through her exposure to their people, their AIs, and some knowledge of their Progenitor whom she even met briefly. Unlike the Celestials, the Confederate elements have differed widely between their presence on Sinai, Abaddon and out in the Galactic, making them hard for her to judge, and that doesn't even include their oddball technological specialties and uncertain relationship with their component species. "And I can't say I like all the tinkering. If it were needed, perhaps, but shaping a species if very difficult and requires exceptionally good foresight and long term planning. For Vartans, it might undermine our self-image, fracture us as a coherent species. That would probably destroy us."
Lacci raises her brows at that sentiment. "You and your friend are one-off custom mezzodes, aren't you?" she asks. "I'm surprised you identify as Vartan so much, instead of Khattan."
Tasha grimaces. "It's more complicated than that," she admits, lowering her nearly finished sandwich and folding her hands together, resting her head back down on both. She thinks for a moment how to explain things, reviewing what she said, then picks out something others have noticed, "You'll probably notice sometimes I say 'the Vartans' and sometimes I say, 'us?' Well, I'm a good example of what I said. Just because I was created--" Created being the correct word, she was definitely created by act of sentient will, if one in the exotic and anachronistic-yet-advanced form of a Sifran echo. " ... like this and raised by certain people, that doesn't mean I feel comfortable. I am partly here to adjust to that and work on my role as mediator. It's one thing being a hybrid between two species, but it's another to accept it and feel comfortable with that place. I didn't always; I still struggle with it. I wasn't sure I wanted to help, or be that bridge. That's a bit of why I'm here."
"You'd probably be more comfortable with Karnors," Lacci admits. "The Vartans living here in the Outpost aren't part of a Clan, any more than the Khattans are part of a House. Your acceptance will be mixed. I don't have an issue, and it's unlikely either Erinyes or Sulimack would, but we've been raised in Clans, and know how to interact with others properly." She then frowns, probably thinking back to her recent confrontation. "Although the locals may like you better than they like me, really. You're half-Karnor in appearance after all.. and everyone trusts Karnors."
"At first I thought you might be insinuating I don't know how to interact with others properly, then you compliment me. Are you sure you know how to interact with others properly, Lacci?" Tasha pushes the rest of her almost finished sandwich in her muzzle and chews, her grin lopsided and amused. Had she seen herself in the mirror just then she'd have likely changed the expression immediately, because she's seen that expression on Nora when Nora was teasing her.
The Vartan blinks. "What? No, I wasn't talking about you, just.. maybe I'm not the best person to offer advice in this, really. I didn't handle things well earlier. The local Vartans probably get along fine with each other and everyone else. They're all here by choice I'm sure, either because they work for the Khattans or want to be away from homeworld society or... want to carve out their future on their own terms, most likely."
"Maybe they just like the diversity," Liza offers, after being silent for so long.
"Now I think you might be biased. That man that confronted you certainly didn't seem like he was awash in choices. I distinctly remember him being upset with a lack of choice in certain areas." Tasha reaches over and picks up her own glass of ale-soup, slowly drinking it down as she thinks a moment, then she nods to Liza. "My assistant could be right, of course. I know a man, Kem, on the station. An artist. He's a good example of both choice and a lack of choice. He didn't feel welcome on Varta, couldn't fit in, and yet found solace in a Phin. They came here. Choice and lack of choice." She gives a little shrug as if to say, "It is as it is." "As for myself, the reactions ahve been mixed, but I've made interesting contacts and some friends. I even met some of your officers, like the daughter of your Admiral."
"Which Admiral?" Lacci asks, then snaps her beak. "Forget I asked.. you mean Aries, from Sulimack. I've not met her, but hear she feels like she has something to prove. Actually, she may be in the position that button-pusher claimed that I was. Political bride material." The woman digs into her next sandwich (pulled pork in tangy barbecue sauce) a bit angrily, then has to pause as her eyes water slightly from the spice.
Tasha fights the urge to giggle at the result. It's not entirely that it's funny -- it is funny to her -- but watching Lacci reminds her so much of herself sometimes she finds it amusing. Amusing and fascinating. Of course, that Lacci tries so hard only to trip over herself is entertaining and too familiar. If she had to explain why she might laugh, Tasha might be hard pressed to explain it well, save that it's nice it's not her doing it for once. "I can understand that position, even though it's not one that I'm subject to. I'm unable to have children and would be a sybolic marriage only, such as with a Vartan. Or a Karnor." Definitely with a Karnor.
"Do you feel you also have something to prove, Lacci? I get that impression, that of someone who is out to demonstrate something, to achieve something, but is frusterated greatly by the reality of things, and maybe depressed by it." And Tasha knows this because it's very much how she feels half the time.
"It is hard to stand out," Lacci notes. "My specialty just.. isn't very useful in general. And on an occasion when it was, I wouldn't be the one in charge of a campaign - just an advisor that could be ignored. Not likely to find glory in combat either. And I haven't flown in what feels like ages now. Plus, I'm horny all the time. I can have pride in my Clan, just not very proud of myself is all. The counselors tell me this is normal for my age as well. That sucks the most!"
"Horny huh," goes Tasha quite before she can stop herself. She goes very blank for a moment, then reaches to take a long sip of her soup-drink. A very long sip.
With that done, she exhales and closes her eyes, leaning back, focusing. "Well, Lacci, I know it's a bit inappropriate to say this after what you and, uh, I just said, but I had been building towards it and all the rest is appropriate, so there's no better time. Your speciality might be very useful to me and mine and we do have enough room for a few more people. In particular your mixed knowledge of Galactic and, in particular, Terran tactics and strategy would be very useful, as we lack anyone in that field. And, I know personally how difficult it can be being both young and trying to prove yourself, especially surrounded by more capable persons. I am, however, not without influence of my own -- or the power to employ people."
Lacci stares blankly for a moment. "I don't understand," she admits. "I can't accept a job offer. I'm in a military position. I.. I don't know how complicated it would be to get assigned to another ship even, if it's possible.." She looks rather torn now. "Not that I'm particularly needed right now, though."
"I can be very persuasive," Tasha notes with a rather cunning grin of her own. "And I'm also able to return favors, within certain areas. I don't have the power of a full House to use, but I have my personal power and my assets." She wonders a moment if that sounded too much like an innuendo, wondering further if the talk of horniess is now clouding her thoughts, but she presses on. "I can speak to Aries. Or to the Admiral. I can find something that interests them, perhaps even see you released from service, if that would be better." And now she sounds entirely too Khattan.
"It's still my Clan," Lacci notes. "I'd.. I'd need to talk to my parents before anything. They could tell me about stuff like this. You have a Vartan crew?" She looks at Liza, who is definitely not Vartan.
Tasha hesitates a moment, uncertain if she should be listing her crew species. At length she decides to wait, if just for a little while. Instead of answering she suggests, "Why don't you take me to meet your parents? It might be easier if they can talk to me directly, and I can learn more about the Clans in doing so."
"Well.. maybe after my shore leave is done?" Lacci asks. "I have two more days, and I want to see the Titan battle once it's announced."
Liza taps Tasha's knee.. then taps harder to be felt through the armor.
"Did you hear about who they've brought on to judge the mock combat?" The faux-mezzode inquires, ears canting forward, brows raising. Those ears then twitch when Liza taps her. "Yes, I know Liza," she mummurs.
The Lapi holds up her tablet so only Tasha can see it. There's a message from Gabriel on it: Status? Yue is back. Katie wearing sexy jumpsuit!
Tasha glances over and bites her lip; sexy jumpsuits are not helping, but she's glad Yue is back and really does need to return to meet her and the others. Sitting up again she notes, "It seems I need to return soon. I'll just ruin the surprise and be direct: I am the judge of the upcoming mock contest. Explain that 'Winged-Gift' has invited you as a guest, and I can probably see you're properly accomidated. Bring your parents, if you like. I should be available after -- I shouldn't appear impartial after all." She inclines her head. "Was there anything else?"
"Can you recommend a guide to this place?" Lacci asks. "Is that artist friend of yours friendly to Clan Vartans?"
"I'm uncertain," Tasha says, tilting her head, " ... but at the very least he's not an aggressive or unkind man. He will likely wish to paint you naked, but his wife will keep it from going farther than that. If he can't help, he likely knows someone who can, and he knows who I am and isn't going to cheat your or endanger you. Yes, he should do." She nods, it's decided. "Just avoid discussing Varta and Clans, don't make him feel bad. Now," she glances to Liza, "I should be going. Tell Kem, 'The hybrid Karnor-Vartan woman named Aldara' sent you. Describe me, if it helps."
"Where do I find him?" Lacci asks before Tasha can escape. Liza is bagging her leftover sandwiches.
Tasha rises, leaving Liza to her work as she turns to Lucci. "He's an artist, he'll have a shop. Just ask the local directories for Kem's Atelier, or if that fails ask around for the Vartan artist married to the squeaky fish."
Lacci looks uncertain about going up to strangers and asking directions.. then looks around again. "Would they know here, since a Phin is involved?" she asks.
"Oh probably, lets go find out." And with that Tasha reaches over to take Lacci's hand and leads her towards the nearest mixed company party of Terrans and Phins.
It isn't hard to find, since there are plenty of bathing-suit (or nude) humans and Karnors sitting on the edge of platforms with their legs in the water, talking to Phins. One man notices the hybrid dragging along the Vartan girl. "Can we help you?" he asks with a surprisingly deep voice.
"I was wondering if you might help my friend here find the Vartan artist named Kem, he is married to a Phin woman," the hybrid explains to the human, her ears flicking at the deepness of the man's voice for such a insubstantial species.
"Oh, he's easy to find," the belter notes, and points to the main doors. "Go out.. and keep going as straight as you can. He's about a quarter turn from here."
Tasha inclines her head. "Thank you." And then she turns to Lacci. "See? Not so hard, or so far away."
"Should I bring him anything?" Lacci asks. "Is bringing a gift customary on Caltrop?"
"You don't need to," the man assures with a chuckle.
Tasha glances at the human, then cocks her head and eyes Lacci with ahint of amusement. "I'm sure just bringing yourself is enough for him."
"Thank you then," Lacci says, and bows slightly. "I suppose we part ways for now then?" she asks Tasha.
Tasha nods to this. Until Lacci is on board she can't being her back to the ship without causing a needless security concern. "That's right. It was nice to meet you, and I really hope you'll consider my offer. I can not only offer you a chance to use your skills, meet others, and see the universe--" And more besides." ... but also a junior officer position, so you shouldn't feel like you're stepping backwards. Well, Liza?" She glances to her assistant. "Shall we?"
Back aboard Dark Horse, Katie and Miss Necessity are showing off the uniform options to the crew, and Katie is indeed wearing her jumpsuit.. to be more persuasive? Hakeber is nodding her head a lot, and before Tasha can really join in, Yue and Gabriel intercept her. "Do you know when the Titan wargame is happening yet?" her mate asks her.
Gabriel gets a hug, because hugging Gabriel is like hugging stability. As the effective center of her world and sense of home, his presence helps offset the strangeness of both place and facade. Having to be so many different faces in so little time has been stressful for Tasha. As she leans back she answers, "No, not yet. It should be within a few hours, though, and I may have a possible recruit canidate. A Vartan woman, a tactician specializing in Terran war and related history. I think we'd be good for each other."
"Local?" Gabriel asks, a bit derailed by the information.
"Clan. Clan Eryines, to be specific." Tasha steps back and rubs her nose in thought. "Frusterated, wants to make a difference, feels overshadowed and stuck where she is. But we don't have a tactician, or anyone up to date on the Clans and their capacity, and we do need people to fill the bridge. She'd be under you, chain-of-command and education-wise." The young woman then turns to peer at Yue. "So, what has Miss Spy gotten us in to?"
"I need to transfer my mummy to an incoming Terragens ship," Yue notes with her usual enigmatic grin. "The battleship Amaterasu to be precise. It would be nice to do the transfer during the wargames, since everyone will be paying attention to that."
"That's fine. I'll be judging the games, so I can see about a distraction if I'm in position to do so. What about our special salvage, had any luck with that? Have you asked the Niss to look at it?" Tasha cosks her head, if anyone might understand the old Library unit -- or have been around when it was made -- it would be the Niss collective.
"I've requested a specialist, but no telling when that will be responded to," Yue notes. "May have to take it to a special facility, who knows? Library stuff is high level sensitive."
Tasha frowns a little. "And they're not concerned we have it? Did they mention any concerns regarding us?"
"You're only known as 'intelligence asset: transportation' right now," Yue notes. "Someone needs to be sent to evaluate the Library node to see if it's salvageable, and also determine the salvage value to pay out for it."
"I'll also want access to its contents," Tasha notes, biting her lip after. "We may need them, especially the old astronavigational materials, materials on species, and anything about the old Galactic civilization. Technical information would be good, too. Maybe we can use it to upgrade the ship and other things."
"Keep in mind you'd be getting paid by a Galactic government," Yue points out. "There are things other than money that you could ask for, which only a government could provide. Like IFF transponder codes, legitimate registration history or other identification. Contacts. Favors."
"That is true," Tasha agrees, leaning back and rubbing her chin in a way Gabriel knows to be copying him, exageratedly so. "And we do need those. The legitimacy and acknowledge would help a lot as well. Right now we're only a step up from pirates without any real support, and I'm still concerned one or more of the Galactics -- including your own -- will take too much interest in us and come to collect. I'd like them to think twice, wondering how much support we have. If we're unoffcial-official."
"They'd be more likely to try and deflect interest," Yue claims. "An intelligence asset ceases to be one when someone outside of the intelligence agency learns about it. They'd want you to be as inconspicuous as possible. That said, they'd also want assurances of non-disclosure and other formalities, to ensure you don't use what they give you against them. This is pretty much the same deal you'll need to cut with every group you agree to take on work for. Vartans need to supply Vartan-acceptable credentials, and so on, unless everything is going to be a black op."
Tasha nods slowly. It's all tricky and complicated, but necessary, and there is little she can say against it. "Alright, well, what about my overseeing this lock battle? Isn't that extremely inconspicuous of me? And can we work with or use the Seeders somehow?"
"Does anyone outside of the participants even know about you being a judge?" Yue asks. "Nobody knows the name of the referee in a rugby match, they just want to root for their teams. You're going to be in your Titan, so none of the spectators are likely to even see you personally."
"The possible recuit Lucci does. And the contact Iria with the Confederacy knows a lot more about me than I'd have liked, since she caught me out of sorts and I really wasn't ready for that communion device. She might even be guesisng I'm with the Titanians, or from Sinai. That might get us close to her captain, but beyond that I can't stop her use of the information." The young woman frowns, shrugging her shoulders. "Sorry. We knew we'd probably overlook or miss something."
"As for the Seeders.. they've got the Starseed migration data, don't they?" Yue asks. "We need that to have any chance of locating the Jotoki home system."
"They do, and they're planning some sort of Second Expedition to go find them. But, that will take some time. I've also been offered safe haven at the local Seeder bar, mostly because they think I'm on the run from some House or other. I've been passing myself off as a reluctant mezzode being considered for House-Terran public relations. Or, I did once I figured out the politics and expectations." Tasha glances at Gabriel a moment, then adds, "But I had to try a few stories until I got the hang of it and felt comfortable."
"Nobody expects Karnors to lie," Gabriel says. "They think the tail and ears and scent would give it away."
"A myth we've gone to great lengths to spread," Yue adds.
"I've found out that I'm a huge liar," Tasha admits with no small amount of despair; it's practically a wail.
"So long as you're a good liar," the small human says, patting Tasha's shoulder. "Do I get a uniform too?"
Tasha squints a little. "I guess we'll see if I'm a good liar soon," she admits, not being certain of the outcome of all her work yet. It's unsettling, really. Then she arches her brows, looking Yue over once. "Oh, does that mean you're fine with being a part of things in full?"
"Someone has to help cover your tracks," Yue says. "And I am a xenoarcheologist, so it isn't like I'm useless or will be bored."
"Half of us are practically walking xenoarchaeological artifacts, after all!" And so Tasha winks at gabriel before turning back to Yue. "Well, welcome aboard. Talk to Liza, Miss Necessity and Katie about your uniform." She then looks between the two. "Anything else I need to know, or any questions for me?"
"We should also be careful what we expose the Niss to," Gabriel suggests. "If they catch a computer bug or data booby-trap from the old Library node, it'd be pretty disastrous."
Tasha blinks at that. It had been easy to assume the Niss were virtually invincible, having only been caught by a mix of bad luck, sheer age catching up with them, and the destruction of all known civilizations such that they couldn't call for assistance. Out of everyone on board -- including Horus -- they were the ones she worried about the least. "Do you think that's possible, wouldn't they, uh, the Niss expect that? It's not like this Niss is a, um, a new 'AI'."
"From what I can tell, you don't actually understand how this ship works, do you?" Yue asks. "The ship's AI is also an unknown. You don't take risks with technology that you have no way of repairing if something goes wrong. If this thing was built as a stealth boat, then there could be all sorts of hidden protocols to prevent the AI from connecting to other systems."
The young woman grimaces again, biting her lip. She gives a nod of acknowledgement. "You're right and we know it. But this is the ship we have and it's what I could get from my deal with the Titanians. Look, um, Yue ..," pausing briefly, the Tasha gestures the two of them to follow her in to a quieter part of the ship, " ... about the ship. It's probably Tnuctipin. And the Niss? We'll they're not, um, not an AI. They're a civilization. Old Ones. You might have heard about the derelict caught between the two suns, months ago? The one everyone was swarming around? Well, I was on the Daunty Mauler at the time, and I was on the team that went in too. It was their ship. We saved them, and they've been living with us. The actual population of the Dark Horse is, um ... Several billion, I think."
Yue actually frowns. "Okay... right now, that is the biggest secret you can possibly have. Bigger than the Jotoki, bigger than the ship itself, bigger than the civilizations back on Primus, the Ogdru-Hem or the Progenitors," she says quietly. "Because this.. this will start a Galactic war."
"I know," Tasha stresses, lowering her voive despite havign led them to a seldom occupied part of the ship. She knows the Niss are listening, too. "But it's like you said. The ship is alien, the Niss aren't invincible. We could keep quiet, but I'm worried about keep everyone safe and the ship running. That includes the Niss. I've never saved a whole civilization before and I am not going to let them be destroyed now. As far as I'm concerned they belong here as much as we do. But you need to know, because you're part of this, and we need your insight."
"Then you need to either refer to them as the ship's AI, or just let people assume it," Yue says. "Until I saw how it operates, I assumed this was a Khattan yacht using Khattan AI and Khattan progmat, just like Jonas did. That is the best logical deduction anyone is going to make, and there's no reason not to let them make it. Now.. can you give me all the details of the mezzode cover story you've been using?"
"This will take a while, lets go sit down somewhere. Or go to the bridge ... " And with that Tasha leads her crew members off, feeling no less uneasy for having got the secret of the Niss off her shoulders. Whatever happens, she will not just hand them over or allow them to be destroyed.
The wardroom at the rear of the bridge is unoccupied, along with the rest of the bridge, including the pilot tank. Since the discussion is going to be the cover story, it isn't as 'secret' since the rest of the crew will have to be filled in on it once the details are hammered out anyway. But the virtual fashion show is still distracting the rest of the crew at the moment.
After getting everything from Tasha, Yue says, "We can work with this. First bit of advice though: don't bother trying to fake a different personality. It's just going to slow your reactions and make you feel anxious and paranoid. Your normal self will work just as well, and you'll be more relaxed. Playing up the Terra-Primist bit is all that's needed to sell the existence of this ship and the mixed crew. Nothing strange about a Primist patron hiring humans and dolphins, or even Vartans for that matter. Make them a Seedist, and that would cover Confederates as well, and give you an excuse to more formally approach the Seed movement. This is a fancy Khattan yacht converted to a 'classic' Terran aesthetic for the interior. We'll need to get some Khattan hyperdrive components though - in order to fake the gravitic distortion of a ship entering and exiting hyperspace, unless the effect can be mimicked as needed by the ship's real drive."
"A Khattan registry and transponder would complete the disguise, if we can get them," the spy concludes.
"The Niss would probably know about mimicing the drive, right now the Niss are the ones in charge of understanding and controlling this ship other then myself, and I mainly act as a conduit to awakening the Dark Being at the heart of the ship. It responds to me, because I'm nice." Tasha sticks out her tongue, daring anyoen to question it. She then clears her throat and notes, "Unfortunately I don't have any real Khattan contacts, and definitely not any of that. I only know the Seeders and I'm very concerned with running in to Khomen's forces, which is why I acted anti-Khomen to make it obvious to them and others we'd be at odds."
"The Seeders are still backed by Khattans," Yue notes. "They may already have registration and IFF slots ready to go for when they get ships. Find that Dassen fellow again, approach with the cover about having a Seed-leaning House patron who wishes to remain anonymous. If they need convincing.. we should consider revealing the Jotoki to them. The Seeders would have a vested interest in finding their homeworld and making sure it can't be exploited."
Tasha nods along, ears going up. It's a very good idea. "Yes, yes I think that will work well. It will also allow us to travel more freely, because they have people everywhere, and we'll be able to accept jobs and meet clients under the guide of Seeder activity. I'd feel bad about that, but we're ultimately working towards their goals too."
"It's not taking advantage of them if we actually enact their charter," Yue notes. "You may want to wait until after the meeting with the Confederate captain though. The hypership is being paid for, supposedly, by the information that Vasterlion is having you deliver, and we don't know what it is. But chances are it will have to with the fate of the Expedition Confederates. The Silent-Ones have their communication channel to Galactic Space, and the Terrans do now too. You'll have to play it a bit ear if they decode it all then and there, but best to find if your cover is blown before trying to give them the cover story."
"It'll be tricky," Tasha admits, ears canting back and body sinking in to her seat. "I know less about the Confederacy than any other Galactic power, I don't know what we're trading, I don't really understand the ship we're trading for and I only came up with my cover with Aaron yesterday. What if they want more? Or react badly?"
"Try to avoid lying to them," Yue notes. "The Confederates are very good at keeping secrets, especially if they can find advantage in doing so. Keeping our secret means they build trust. But I imagine they will want to send two of their own - one with the hypership, to maintain it or do whatever else is needed, and one for your crew, almost certainly a xenobiologist of some sort."
"Well, we do have openings in our roster. We only really have you and Hake-bear to do our research and science work along side the Niss, and we're going to encounter many more entities, oddities, and weirdities. Speaking of which ... " Tasha sits up, pushing off with her elbows and practically shove herself to straight back uprightedness. "Yue, this isn't a priority right now, but see if you can find a way in to Fafnir. I want to speak to Eve. And Vulcan, but I have others working on that. We should also consider what to do if we run in to Dr. Moraeu."
"Fafnir!" Yue squeaks. "That won't be as easy as dropping from orbit to steal a book. At least I have leads on where Moreau might be. We'll need Vartan support.. well, he's probably being hosted by Seeders anyway. I don't recall Eve saying anything about where Vulcan is, or any of their locations really. You've got a lead?"
"I do, but I can't explain it without breaching my promises to the Titanians. Sorry," Tasha admits, shrugging with her hands in a "you know how it is" sort of way. "But sooner or later we may have the way. It'll be rough, though. Very rough. As you'd sort of expect, he lives on a volcanic world. Very active, very dangerous. We'll need to be prepared for it. Maybe a long surface slog, too."
"Well, no worlds like that come to mind," Yue admits. "I'm going to move the Library node out of the shuttle, and anything else that isn't the vacuum-packed corpse of an unknown First One species. And get measured by.. whoever is doing the uniform measurements. Let me know when you have the war-games schedule, alright? Is there anything else you need from me?"
"Think about what I said, and if you have time see if you can come up with anything you think I should learn when we have downtime. I can study it when we're away, and I'm not active." Tasha glances between the two assembled and then asks, "Gabriel, any questions for either of us?"
"You don't have to let her talk just because she's a mighty and ferocious Huamn," Tasha then adds, a grin crossing her face.
"Did you really get the same jumpsuit that Katie has?" Gabriel asks, with a perfectly straight face.
Tasha's face goes very neutral. "Diplomacy required it," she states.
Gabriel then reaches towards Tasha's face, and brushes his fingers around her left brow. "I almost miss the feathers," he notes, then grins. "But now I don't have to get my nose tickled when I kiss your face.."
"Alright, I'm off then," Yue says. "I may steal your bunnies later though," she comments as she leaves the bridge.
"So you'll have to kiss my face more, of course!" And so Tasha wags her tail, leaning in to Gabriel's hand in what she'd probably think was especially Karnor of her if she had been paying attention at all. "Have fun Yue," she asides, not looking over, but looking at Gabriel intently. "I'm going to steal the Captain for a while."