Log 524 Crater Moon in the Mines
Countess Bianca Thorne lost both her parents when the drive of their ship "malfunctioned" and blew up. As young as she is, she has to take over the reins of their province, Mielait, in the Wesern System. Thankfully, she has the help of her trusted advisors.
Kyeson Thorne (bella_surena)- the heroic Master of the Road who will ensure that "an accident" does not happen to Bianca
Doctor Holden Rossk (Nick)-the serpent mastermind who is secretly creating a set of super vassals to keep an eye on the provinces
Jenj Adrente (wickedthought)- Bianca's loyal tutor who tries to guide the steps of the young Falcon as she holds on to her legacy
Earlier:
Log 523 Engines On
“Captain? “ the helmsman’s voice brought Kyeson out of his thoughts. “Coordinates?”
“Ah, head for Crater Moon. We’re visiting Carran’s lands first.”
Five hours later, when they were just about to land, Kyeson went looking for Bianca. She was sitting in her quarters with her back to the door. As Kyeson came around to her side, he saw the blue glow from her hands. She held the hololocket open so that the image of her parents smiling and waving flickered in front of her. When Kyeson cleared his throat, Bianca jumped.
“We’re just about to land, milady”
“Oh. Good. I’ll be right out” Bianca smiled at him.
From a portal, Holden looked out at Crater Moon. She took some pictures, thinking about where the best place for a lab would be if this were her moon. It was nice and lonely and no other ven would want to come out here uninvited. If the rumors about Carran were true, then he could have a planet and she could have this moon. The camera on her arm console clicked a few more times as The Dauntless descended.
Jenj watched Carran closely as he made his welcoming speech. It explained that the rooms were nice but spartan due to this being a working mine. Dinner would be served shortly and after there would be a short tour of the upper mine area that had long since been designed to show off mining techniques to guests. Jenj put his hand on Bianca’s shoulder.
“You have your DEVI on?” he asked her.
She pointed out the lump under her dress. It was a small device that would phase her to one side or the other if someone tried to attack her.
“How many turns back to the entrance?”
“Four,” she said.
“Wrong, it was three. What would they be if you were going back?”
“Left, right, left since they’d be opposite of the way we came.”
Jenj nodded with satisfaction. They reached the hallway of doors that led to rooms for overnight guests. Since space was limited, there would be two people per room. Jenj was sharing with their host.
Carran had just come in from settling the others into their rooms when one of his miners rushed in.
“Miners dying....problems....needs your attention now” was all that Jenj could overhear of the miner’s whispers.
Carran turned. “Excuse me, but it seems some business matters have come up. I will see you at dinner.” He left the room with his miner.
Holden was putting away things from her overnight bag. Bianca wandered around their room for a bit before saying that she was going to talk to Jenj. Holden nodded without looking up.
The door was partly open so she did not knock.
“How many guards did you see as we came in?” Jenj asked once he saw her.
“None. “ Bianca wrinkled her nose.
“Wrong, there were five.”
“Those were miners. They won’t be able to kill me with drills.”
“No, they’ll use knives. Dinner soon. You have your poison sniffer?”
Bianca sighed. “It is in my room. I’ll go get it before dinner.”
Jenj nodded and called in Kyeson who was walking down the hall. “One of Carran’s men was talking about some kind of problem deeper in the mines. Think you could find out what?”
“Sure, I could wander around a bit” Kyeson said.
The miners were pretty friendly. Even more so after Kyeson had chatted with them for a bit. The rumor was that some kind of gas had leaked out and killed three of their coworkers. The more advanced miners were dealing with it now and everyone else was being kept up on the upper levels.
Dinner was quiet and civil and full of meat and potatoes. Holden dumped some of her special solution into her drink to make it taste like coffee. Carran came in half an hour late and apologized, which Bianca received politely after glancing at Jenj. Kevas tried to tell a few off color jokes but realized they were not causing any laughter and stopped.
After the last dishes were cleared away, Carran took the guests into the mine. Kyeson and Holden dropped to the back of the group.
“There is some kind of gas killing miners down below” Kyeson told her.
Holden raised an eyebrow. “Is that all you know?”
“It is visible like steam on a cold morning”
“Ah,” Holden ran calculations on her arm console factoring in the minerals of this moon. “The good news is that the most likely kind is only fatal to the unblooded veth. The bad news is that if we breathed it in, it would still change us in some way. The best news is that I know how to handle it properly.”
A shadow loomed over their shoulders. Kevas chuckled as Holden and Kyeson both startled. “This place sure is junky and plain.”
“It is functional. You are right in that it does not contain any false luxury,” Holden said pointedly. She thought of his faux-elk, bred to grace the tables of ven who wanted the look but not the fuss of eating a sacred animal.
“True, true,” Kevas patted Holden’s butt as he walked by them back to the tour group. She frowned at his back.
“You want me to make him apologize?” Kyeson asked her.
Holden shook her head and raised her voice to reach the rest of the group. “I seem to have left something I need for tonight on our ship. You all will have to excuse me. Kyeson will you escort me back?”
Kyeson blinked. “Sure”
After picking up a special container, the pair made their way deeper into the mines. The lack of decoration and the obvious functional nature of Carran’s mines became more pronounced further down. On the whole, the miners were too preoccupied to notice the pair. It was only as they reached the tunnel that been blocked up that one of Carran’s overseers stopped them. Holden showed him a forged authorization from Carran on her arm console.
“Aye then. Only I cannot guarantee your safety down here.”
“I understand,” Holden replied.
With that warning, he left them alone and Holden collected some of the wispy white gas in her container without attracting further attention.
Jenj pinched Bianca. She jumped and turned her attention back to what Carran was saying. In their hidden language, Jenj asked her what she saw when Kevas joined them.
“I don’t know. You tell me,“ she replied.
“When Kevas walked up, Carran took a half step back. On his own lands. “ Jenj motioned as they chatted with her two Moon Barons. He continued to Bianca underneath the conversation in their invisible tongue. “Kevas keeps glancing at you. This could be taken as trying to see if he impresses you but he looks worried. The trick is finding out what he is worried about.”
She studied the two men in front of her. Jenj said no more.
The tour did not last much longer and the lights along the hallway dimmed as all bid each other good night. Holden wrapped up the canister of gas in cloth and tucked it under her bed just as Bianca came in.
They had both been sleeping soundly when a beeping awoke Holden. Her arm console was flaring red in the dark. By that light, Holden could see the wisps of gas coming in under the door to the hallway. Fully awake now, she moved fast.
“Eh..whuh, “Bianca mumbled as Holden shook her awake.
“It an emergency, milady, you need to get up right now.” Holden grabbed the special canister from under her bed and bundled it and Bianca into the bathroom. As Holden was setting the room’s heater to its highest temperature, Bianca rushed back out and rummaged through her clothes. With the hololocket firmly in hand, she allowed Holden to push her back into the bathroom. Knowing she only had a few seconds, Holden closed the door and pushed blankets into the gap along the bottom. The ladies huddled in the corner of the bathroom and....
WOOMPH!
The last tendrils of gas flamed out as the boom rocked the corridor. Kyeson leapt out of bed, landing on his feet like a cat. Kevas in the other bed also sat up but did not move to help.
“Bianca!” Kyeson launched himself down the hallways and crashed into the door to the ladies’ room. Jenj came out of the opposite door with Carran following dressed in nightclothes. The only immediate clue as to what happened was a piece of Bianca’s dress singed around the edges and lying on the floor.
Kyeson applied a big boot to the room’s door; Holden and Bianca heard the crash of it breaking in and opened the bathroom door.
All three vassals looked their lady over but Bianca was uninjured.
The room was blasted with the furniture shoved to the edges and any clothing that had been lying out was shredded and burned. Carran rubbed his forehead and looked around.
“The gas you have leaking down in your mine is flammable. Especially with high heat applied to it,“ Holden said. Carran stared at her. Holden shrugged, “I know about its properties but I wouldn’t touch it for my life.”
On the far end of the corridor, they found the canister that had held the gas. Its top had blown off as the sudden flare up had rocketed it down the hallway.
Kyesone said, “I saw the far door out into the main room open as I came out. But all the rest had locked down due to special measures for the fire.” There was a magnetic security card in the lock of the door.
The next morning came without further problems. Before brunch, Holden went down to Kevas’ ship and scanned the records for who was signed out last night. Three workmen, all of who no doubt had alibis of playing poker with the crew of The Dauntless. Still, Holden downloaded the record and sent it on to Carran to be of help in the investigation. She made sure her container of the gas was stowed away unnoticed on The Dauntless.
“Your Countess was attacked on your lands and you had offered hospitality,” Jenj said to Carran over brunch. Bianca watched the confrontation warily. Jenj had been telling her all week not to upset her Barons on this tour.
“I will find out how it happened and punish those responsible.” Carran turned to Bianca, “this means that I will not be joining you for the rest of the tour, I’m afraid.” With a curt nod, he strode out of the room.
Bianca nibbled on the fruit and muffins on her plate. Kyeson at down next to her and patted her shoulder. After the disturbance last night, he had set his alarm to go off every hour and check the hallway and main room. This was much to the annoyance of Kevas, his roommate, who had to sleep in to get some rest. Jenj had switched beds with Holden and slept in the room with his ward. Everyone was tired.
As The Dauntless pulled away from Crater Moon, those who looked back saw gouts of flame coming from the shafts to the mines. Like orange and red tongues they licked along the ground.
Kyeson Thorne (bella_surena)- the heroic Master of the Road who will ensure that "an accident" does not happen to Bianca
Doctor Holden Rossk (Nick)-the serpent mastermind who is secretly creating a set of super vassals to keep an eye on the provinces
Jenj Adrente (wickedthought)- Bianca's loyal tutor who tries to guide the steps of the young Falcon as she holds on to her legacy
Earlier:
Log 523 Engines On
“Captain? “ the helmsman’s voice brought Kyeson out of his thoughts. “Coordinates?”
“Ah, head for Crater Moon. We’re visiting Carran’s lands first.”
Five hours later, when they were just about to land, Kyeson went looking for Bianca. She was sitting in her quarters with her back to the door. As Kyeson came around to her side, he saw the blue glow from her hands. She held the hololocket open so that the image of her parents smiling and waving flickered in front of her. When Kyeson cleared his throat, Bianca jumped.
“We’re just about to land, milady”
“Oh. Good. I’ll be right out” Bianca smiled at him.
From a portal, Holden looked out at Crater Moon. She took some pictures, thinking about where the best place for a lab would be if this were her moon. It was nice and lonely and no other ven would want to come out here uninvited. If the rumors about Carran were true, then he could have a planet and she could have this moon. The camera on her arm console clicked a few more times as The Dauntless descended.
Jenj watched Carran closely as he made his welcoming speech. It explained that the rooms were nice but spartan due to this being a working mine. Dinner would be served shortly and after there would be a short tour of the upper mine area that had long since been designed to show off mining techniques to guests. Jenj put his hand on Bianca’s shoulder.
“You have your DEVI on?” he asked her.
She pointed out the lump under her dress. It was a small device that would phase her to one side or the other if someone tried to attack her.
“How many turns back to the entrance?”
“Four,” she said.
“Wrong, it was three. What would they be if you were going back?”
“Left, right, left since they’d be opposite of the way we came.”
Jenj nodded with satisfaction. They reached the hallway of doors that led to rooms for overnight guests. Since space was limited, there would be two people per room. Jenj was sharing with their host.
Carran had just come in from settling the others into their rooms when one of his miners rushed in.
“Miners dying....problems....needs your attention now” was all that Jenj could overhear of the miner’s whispers.
Carran turned. “Excuse me, but it seems some business matters have come up. I will see you at dinner.” He left the room with his miner.
Holden was putting away things from her overnight bag. Bianca wandered around their room for a bit before saying that she was going to talk to Jenj. Holden nodded without looking up.
The door was partly open so she did not knock.
“How many guards did you see as we came in?” Jenj asked once he saw her.
“None. “ Bianca wrinkled her nose.
“Wrong, there were five.”
“Those were miners. They won’t be able to kill me with drills.”
“No, they’ll use knives. Dinner soon. You have your poison sniffer?”
Bianca sighed. “It is in my room. I’ll go get it before dinner.”
Jenj nodded and called in Kyeson who was walking down the hall. “One of Carran’s men was talking about some kind of problem deeper in the mines. Think you could find out what?”
“Sure, I could wander around a bit” Kyeson said.
The miners were pretty friendly. Even more so after Kyeson had chatted with them for a bit. The rumor was that some kind of gas had leaked out and killed three of their coworkers. The more advanced miners were dealing with it now and everyone else was being kept up on the upper levels.
Dinner was quiet and civil and full of meat and potatoes. Holden dumped some of her special solution into her drink to make it taste like coffee. Carran came in half an hour late and apologized, which Bianca received politely after glancing at Jenj. Kevas tried to tell a few off color jokes but realized they were not causing any laughter and stopped.
After the last dishes were cleared away, Carran took the guests into the mine. Kyeson and Holden dropped to the back of the group.
“There is some kind of gas killing miners down below” Kyeson told her.
Holden raised an eyebrow. “Is that all you know?”
“It is visible like steam on a cold morning”
“Ah,” Holden ran calculations on her arm console factoring in the minerals of this moon. “The good news is that the most likely kind is only fatal to the unblooded veth. The bad news is that if we breathed it in, it would still change us in some way. The best news is that I know how to handle it properly.”
A shadow loomed over their shoulders. Kevas chuckled as Holden and Kyeson both startled. “This place sure is junky and plain.”
“It is functional. You are right in that it does not contain any false luxury,” Holden said pointedly. She thought of his faux-elk, bred to grace the tables of ven who wanted the look but not the fuss of eating a sacred animal.
“True, true,” Kevas patted Holden’s butt as he walked by them back to the tour group. She frowned at his back.
“You want me to make him apologize?” Kyeson asked her.
Holden shook her head and raised her voice to reach the rest of the group. “I seem to have left something I need for tonight on our ship. You all will have to excuse me. Kyeson will you escort me back?”
Kyeson blinked. “Sure”
After picking up a special container, the pair made their way deeper into the mines. The lack of decoration and the obvious functional nature of Carran’s mines became more pronounced further down. On the whole, the miners were too preoccupied to notice the pair. It was only as they reached the tunnel that been blocked up that one of Carran’s overseers stopped them. Holden showed him a forged authorization from Carran on her arm console.
“Aye then. Only I cannot guarantee your safety down here.”
“I understand,” Holden replied.
With that warning, he left them alone and Holden collected some of the wispy white gas in her container without attracting further attention.
Jenj pinched Bianca. She jumped and turned her attention back to what Carran was saying. In their hidden language, Jenj asked her what she saw when Kevas joined them.
“I don’t know. You tell me,“ she replied.
“When Kevas walked up, Carran took a half step back. On his own lands. “ Jenj motioned as they chatted with her two Moon Barons. He continued to Bianca underneath the conversation in their invisible tongue. “Kevas keeps glancing at you. This could be taken as trying to see if he impresses you but he looks worried. The trick is finding out what he is worried about.”
She studied the two men in front of her. Jenj said no more.
The tour did not last much longer and the lights along the hallway dimmed as all bid each other good night. Holden wrapped up the canister of gas in cloth and tucked it under her bed just as Bianca came in.
They had both been sleeping soundly when a beeping awoke Holden. Her arm console was flaring red in the dark. By that light, Holden could see the wisps of gas coming in under the door to the hallway. Fully awake now, she moved fast.
“Eh..whuh, “Bianca mumbled as Holden shook her awake.
“It an emergency, milady, you need to get up right now.” Holden grabbed the special canister from under her bed and bundled it and Bianca into the bathroom. As Holden was setting the room’s heater to its highest temperature, Bianca rushed back out and rummaged through her clothes. With the hololocket firmly in hand, she allowed Holden to push her back into the bathroom. Knowing she only had a few seconds, Holden closed the door and pushed blankets into the gap along the bottom. The ladies huddled in the corner of the bathroom and....
WOOMPH!
The last tendrils of gas flamed out as the boom rocked the corridor. Kyeson leapt out of bed, landing on his feet like a cat. Kevas in the other bed also sat up but did not move to help.
“Bianca!” Kyeson launched himself down the hallways and crashed into the door to the ladies’ room. Jenj came out of the opposite door with Carran following dressed in nightclothes. The only immediate clue as to what happened was a piece of Bianca’s dress singed around the edges and lying on the floor.
Kyeson applied a big boot to the room’s door; Holden and Bianca heard the crash of it breaking in and opened the bathroom door.
All three vassals looked their lady over but Bianca was uninjured.
The room was blasted with the furniture shoved to the edges and any clothing that had been lying out was shredded and burned. Carran rubbed his forehead and looked around.
“The gas you have leaking down in your mine is flammable. Especially with high heat applied to it,“ Holden said. Carran stared at her. Holden shrugged, “I know about its properties but I wouldn’t touch it for my life.”
On the far end of the corridor, they found the canister that had held the gas. Its top had blown off as the sudden flare up had rocketed it down the hallway.
Kyesone said, “I saw the far door out into the main room open as I came out. But all the rest had locked down due to special measures for the fire.” There was a magnetic security card in the lock of the door.
The next morning came without further problems. Before brunch, Holden went down to Kevas’ ship and scanned the records for who was signed out last night. Three workmen, all of who no doubt had alibis of playing poker with the crew of The Dauntless. Still, Holden downloaded the record and sent it on to Carran to be of help in the investigation. She made sure her container of the gas was stowed away unnoticed on The Dauntless.
“Your Countess was attacked on your lands and you had offered hospitality,” Jenj said to Carran over brunch. Bianca watched the confrontation warily. Jenj had been telling her all week not to upset her Barons on this tour.
“I will find out how it happened and punish those responsible.” Carran turned to Bianca, “this means that I will not be joining you for the rest of the tour, I’m afraid.” With a curt nod, he strode out of the room.
Bianca nibbled on the fruit and muffins on her plate. Kyeson at down next to her and patted her shoulder. After the disturbance last night, he had set his alarm to go off every hour and check the hallway and main room. This was much to the annoyance of Kevas, his roommate, who had to sleep in to get some rest. Jenj had switched beds with Holden and slept in the room with his ward. Everyone was tired.
As The Dauntless pulled away from Crater Moon, those who looked back saw gouts of flame coming from the shafts to the mines. Like orange and red tongues they licked along the ground.