Sea of Stars - IC II

[Haval]

Command Staff

Macharius grits his teeth on hearing of Quinn's scheme. Vulkan's eyebrows! That odious little toad... One of these days, we will need to take action against him.

But, on to the matter at hand. We have to deal with this Lorik before anything else. He groans at Anika's suggestion in over-exaggerated pain. Go talk to the bureaucrat? Isn't dealing with bureaucrats what I pay you for? He winks at her, his good humor restored. A capital idea though. Why don't we set up a meeting, show him we're not pirates and heretics.

'If Quinn is capable of being this irritating I suppose we'll have to. In the short term we could always see if we could persuade Lorik to have Quinn searched on his way back through the Maw. It's only fair.'

On the second point, 'And that's why I'm advising you to come with me. Anything to get out of the Port in less than a month. I would absolutely set Hannabel or Ravia on him if I thought it might help.'

Sargon

'I can't speak to the specifics of the Vortex, but I have heard enough lurid stories to wonder if there's any truth to them.' A worse idea had presented itself, 'I'd assume the Vortex isn't that different to the Eye of Terror, and I think we've all heard the stories about what that place has done to anyone who chooses to live there.' Anika will list some possible sources of information, 'If we want certainty I'd say find the oldest and most experienced Navigator you know. Perhaps some of your kind have gleaned anything of use from being outside the Vortex and looking in. Otherwise I think we're obliged to speak with the sort of people who might actually have had a reason to enter the Vortex in the first place. Finding someone like that whose word you can trust absolutely may be a big ask.'

Rumour Mill

Anika will send a thank you reply and underline that she would appreciate hearing more about Quinn's activities whenever there was any news to report. After passing this on, 'Not overly useful to know all this I suppose, but it does give us something to target if Quinn decides to do anything that deserves that level of retaliation.' She was fairly sure she could have Quinn's properties on Malfi burgled if she really had to.

Lorik - Before the Meeting

Anika was fairly sure her tutor had never covered a situation quite this specific but by her mother's standards the message had been fairly helpful. She will pass the details on, 'Mother seems to think Lorik actually enjoys doing this to people, which may mean that doing everything to help him speed the process up might be our best option.' She will do as her Mother suggested and try to be as prepared for the meeting as possible.

At the meeting Anika will make a show of joining in with Macharius' prayer before sitting down. The sight of the man had confirmed all of her worst fears, but Academia had given her some experience at dealing with these sorts of people. Whether Macharius' show of piety helped or not, Lorik had set aside the space for 'pleasantries' so she couldn't see why it would hurt.

Lorik seemed just like the sort of person to end the meeting as soon as the time he had set aside for it was up, so Anika will jump in with some questions as soon as the meeting proper seemed to have begun. 'I would like to ask if there is any truth to the rumour that you have detained us due to stories spread by the Rogue Trader Tristan Quinn? Aside from that may I ask if there is anything I can do to assist your work? I'm sure it would be better for you if we can get out of your way as quickly as possible. You never know how many more ships might be intending to come through the Maw in any given week.'