Session 2

In the vast, deep space a tiny ship floats slowly, as if nothing has happened, as if there is nothing but its movement. It's a weird thing, zero-gravity travel. Even with all the adjustments made to increase the comfort of the passengers, one can still feel a weirdness in the process. The passengers of this particular ship has no quarries such as these as they have been through an undefinable experience just now. They are still shaken by the sudden transitions and the things they've been through. When the group checks the time, they realize that it displays exactly the same thing as they last remember, meaning most likely no time has passed during that.

Your target, Trimer Delta IV, is only half a day away from where you are right now with your current speed. There is nothing in your proximity, nothing you can see or can be detected by the sensors, except that a small, unregistered planet a few million kilometers away to the west of Trimer Delta IV.

Hariette wakes up, still feeling defiant and angry as the dream ends, even though there's nothing left to be angry about. She decides to float over to the mess for some (cold, for safety) coffee, efficiently tying her hair back en route. Pulling up the star chart, she notes the uncharted planet and resists scanning for life forms - the crew likely wouldn't go along for a sampling expedition that'd put them out of their way anyways, and in any case the ship's containment facilities were inadequate. Not that that alone would stop Hariette, but she's conscious that other people's tolerance for weird alien fungi on the walls was much lower than hers. She sips her coffee, and waits for the others to arrive, trying to shake the lingering feelings.

Cassiopeia Canon, intrepid alien whisperer to the stars, puts down her tablet. She had been reviewing her notes on the Kituri.Then, she had an epileptic fit, or an embolism, or some other kind of hallucination. She triggers her comm.

>> Hariette, do you have a minute? I think I had a stroke

She checks her aportment in her mirror and then heads out of her quarters to find the doctor.

TBD gives a start as he finds himself suddenly right back where he was supposed to be. He looks around the bridge quickly, taking it all in, wondering whether this is just another illusion. Still unsure of whether to trust his senses or not, he hits the shipwide comms.

>> This is Dayton. Everybody, check in.

Leda walks into the mess in a preoccupied state. She is still trying to process the recent events. The only explanation her brain will accept is that the crew had been wrapped in holograms of their personal memories. This was all coupled with some kind of time travel in both directions at various speeds.

"Oh hi Harriette. I almost didn't see you. How's the coffee? Same terrible?" she says as she trudges toward some.

"Oh. TBD just messaged everyone."

>> I'm grabbing some coffee in the mess with harriette. I'm fine.

CC taps a reply to TBD's check on request, responding:

>> Might have just had a stroke. Headed to find Harriete

TBD crooks an eyebrow at Cass's comment.

>> Roger that. Is it just me, or did everybody just have a WTF moment? Food, tubes, disembodied voices, all that?

After moment, he adds:

>> Hiro, check in. Anybody got eyes on our man?

>> I'm in the mess, Cass, I'll come up

"I'd better go check on her, " Hariette says with an apologetic smile to Leda, as she reflected once again that they should try to hire a real doctor in the next port.

Heading up to Cass' study, she presses the indicator and pushes her way in as she opens the door, pressing a flashlight into Cass' face.

"You look fine hun, you sure it was a stroke?"

She's typing a response to TBD when Hariette appears. "Well, I thought it was more likely that I had a stroke but TBD had the same experience." She shows her the group text.

GROUP >> TBD: Yes. That

"Oh. Oh yeah, I had that too. Thought I just nodded off for a bit. You're saying you saw the exact same thing?"

>> Seems like we might have had some kind of mass shared hallucination... I'll check the O2 levels and check the scrubbers for infestation, though it'd take a monster of a phyllocyber to get us like that...

"Anyways you seem ok, I'll let you know if I find anything"

Hariette goes to grab her lab kit, then checks the O2 levels, comparing with the computers data. And she swabs the O2 scrubbers for errant spores.

TBD mutters a quiet profanity to himself when he gets no response from Hiro - everybody else accounted for except the big guy. He quickly checks over everything on the bridge to make sure the ship, or what appears to be the ship, is on course and operating properly. Seeing no flashing red lights or anything else equally obviously alarming, he heads out in search of Hiro.

There was nothing to engage Leda other than her own brain analyzing and reanalyzing whatever had gone on before if anything actually had. She became her usual withdrawn self again as she nursed her coffee, one hand wrapped around the cup as if to gain solace from its warmth. Even though her stomach grumbled, she realized she had no desire to eat.

CC, entirely molified by the prognosis, goes to find the others. She grabs a coffee from the container, black with non-dairy creamer.

"Leda, did you have an episode too? If you had the same dream I did, that was sharp thinking in your part to determine if we were in a hologram."

>> l’m here

…comes Hiro’s reply on the chat.

>> Just need a minute. Everything okay?

At that moment you experience something you haven’t for a long time, not until you’ve embarked on this mission: your comm chanels are being hailed. Sensors pick a small ship in the vicinity, a ship even smaller than yours. From your ships point of view you can only see a small dot far away but it’s getting closer.

"I had something,". Leda says to Cass. "I'm not sure what you'd call it, but something happened. Tangible yet not. Very confusing. I'm still processing it all. I don't know if we had the same dreams as you call them though. Mine was very personal and about things only I would know. I am convinced that there is some kind of holographic time phase oscillation going on. Or was. Who knows, maybe it still is going on."

Leda starts to drift off into her deep thoughts again when her comm goes off. Figuring it's TBD again she casually glances at it. Her eyes go wide at what she reads.

"A ship is approaching!"

>> Good to see you're still with us, Hiro. On my way to bridge. Wonder if our mystery callers have something to do with the WTF we all had.

Dayton breathes a small sigh of relief knowing that the crew is intact - as best he can tell - and heads back to the bridge. He immediately goes to the sensor station and gets a readout on the small vessel while putting the hail on shipwide speakers.

Hiro makes his way to the bridge, where he slides expertly into the pilot's seat. He looks a little worse for wear, but seems determined to man his post.

CC flounces in a catwalk fashion to the bridge. It's how she walks, don't judge. When she gets there, she immediately checks her reflection in monitor while also reading out anything they can on the ship. "It's smaller than us, which could mean an escort fighter, I suppose, or a light passenger vessel." She sits to learn what she can, knowing that Hiro is more capable than she would be of chatting with fellow captains.

When TBD puts the hail on the speakers, you hear a crackling, deep voice. It's so distorted like it sounds a bit edited but it lacks the artificialness of digital editing that you're able to recognize. "This is Krak Lok, come in. Please state your purpose in this sector." At the same time main computer's screen starts to bip, indicating the other ship's request for video communication.

Leda grabs another coffee and hurries to the bridge. What new craziness will befall the group now and will it be real or will it be an illusion of some kind, she wonders?

Hariette grabs her lab kit and starts working. As she checks the oxygen levels she finds out that only a tiny change has occurred, almost a thousandth of one breath. The infestation analysis displays nothing of interest, there is no bacterial involvement present apart from the usual routine of the ship. There is, however, one odd notification in the main computer. Every approved galactic-scale ship need to include a sick-bay and every "official" mission longer than a certain amount requires routine inspection of the crew’s health. The computer bips, alerting your regular inspection time has come, which probably is a leftover from your previous missions with this ship.

Hariette floats out of environment control, a little disappointed she didn't find anything, and heads back to the mess where everyone is.

"Hey. Ship seems fine, I can't account for the weird hallucinations... Hey what's going on?"

The computer replays the Alien's message to her, and she reflexively accepts the request for video.

"Hey! We're just passing through. Yourself?"

Hiro frowns and slows the ship as the distance closes. While doing do, he's redirecting power, preparing for evasive moves if they are needed.

"They are hailing us. Opening a channel," the man says in his baritone.

Hariette. You open the video communication and see a masked face with a muscled, chubby body. In the back screen a perfectly good looking woman sits, curiously eyeing you. These are the people you've witnessed vanishing in the rooms. The creature in the front answers you with no apparent sign of realization or surprise. "Same. Are you here on official bussiness?"

"Before I answer that, can I ask you a weird question?"

Leda is all ears and wide eyes, recognizing the people on the screen, waiting to see what Hariette will ask. Perhaps these two will be the missing link that allows her to put it all together.

The creature looks surprised by Hariette’s request but remains calm. "Only if you promise to say why you’re here."

CC does everything she can to identify the ship and the species that built it. The presence of humans with them seem to indicate a mercenary ship rather than an official delegation. She perks up at Hariette's question, wondering if she's going to pop the big one.

She smoothes her hair, running a finger over her ear, and leans back, considering. Perpetrators, unaware, or fellow victims, and if the latter, will they blame them?

"Sure thing! We can be friendly if you're friendly! My question is, do you have any kind of telepathic abilities? In particular, did you send us a vision to test if we were friendly or not?"

The woman in the back laughs with a high-pitched voice. "And we thought we were the crazy ones to try to get here. Honey, these are clearly not here on official business. We should go on our separate way." she says. Her voice is a balanced one, not too high, not too low. Every word, every syllable and every emotion is delivered neatly. The creature, on the other hand, seems even more surprised with your question. "Is this your idea of being friendly? Joking around? Humans have changed since I last met them."

Cass. The core design of the ship seems rather traditional for small mercenary ships, something you could buy with a small amount of STUs (Standard Transactional Unit) at the black market but it is highly modified. Although aesthetic changes stick to the eye some features suggest possible structural modifications as well.

Hariette puts her hands out in an exaggerated shrug, as though saying "what are you gonna do". "It's a weird galaxy, and we had a weird experience before meeting you. It was worth a shot. Anyways, yeah, we're clearly not here for the same reasons. I'm happy to let that be that, if you are?"

CC sends the details to Hiro's comm panel, highlighting the modifications she's noted. His expert eyes will no doubt see meaning where she sees blobs.

She examines the woman in the panel. Apparently they didn't take Hariette as being serious, but who could blame them. Of course, if they had the same experience, they wouldn't have reacted that way, so there you go. "Well done, H," she murmurs.

Hiro keeps quiet as the exchange takes a turn or two. Maybe not the best idea to have Hariette at the coal face, but it is what it is now. His eyes rove the info that CC sends over and he looks for anything out of the ordinary, as well as anything they can use should things suddenly go sideways.

"Ask when he last encountered humans, and what happened," the broad-shouldered pilot says quietly to Hariette.

Hariette whispers tersely through her teeth trying not to show that she's talking to someone else, "Oh, no but I just... damn ok"

Feigning polite interest she says back to the view screen,

"Oh! You've met humans before? How long ago was that?"

The creature on the front seemed talkative, he was about to start talking when the woman stood up and get to the front. She starts talking with a decisive, strict manner. "I'm sorry but see it from our perspective. You still haven't told us anything regarding your motivations and you expect us to answer personal questions. Not to mention this crazy experience you supposedly had. I'm gueesing you have something to do at TD4 or else you wouldn't be wandering around here. If you want to say anything related to that, we're eager to listen but otherwise I'm going to have to terminate the call."

Leda having withdrawn into her shell again especially with the two strangers on the screen whispers to Cass. "Tell them we don't know why we are here."

Quietly, she signals to Hariette's comm >>Don't tell them what we're doing. Maybe say we're looking to open trade negotiations with TD4.

From his position at the weapons station, TBD watches the sensors intently for signs that the alien vessel may be powering up its weapons or raising shields.

"Actually, we're just here on an ecological survey. What's a TD4, is that some kind of plant?" Hariette lies, in her mind very convincingly

TBD. From the beginning sensors read that the shields were up but you know that it is a precaution one would rather take on dangerous, unofficial sectors. There seems to be no weapon powering at the moment.

The woman smiles mischievously. "Sure, and I’m a Aketonian cat. This one here is an adorable little girl." He points to the creature who has been quiet since the woman had taken over the conversation. "I think we got what we can." With those words hailing channels from the ship closes, comms are terminated and you see their ship turning and waiting for a little. Then it starts to move away, getting faster by second.

"Hmm, could've gone worse." TBD continues to monitor the leaving ship until it gets out of possible weapon range.

CC shakes her head. "Well, what did we find out about them? Other than they were entirely confused by the notion of telepathic gonorhea.""

"And that one of them is a smartass," Leda said disappointed that they accomplished little.

Hariette rejoins everyone in the mess. "Huh, unfriendly. Well, we found out where they're headed. There's honestly no good reason to be out here if they don't want a piece of TD4 as well..."

"Sounds about right. I think we can also pretty much rule out the notion that they were on 'official' business as well," Dayton adds. "Looks like this is shaping up to be quite the party."

As the ships wanders off into the void, you resume your initial course to Trimer Delta IV. After a couple of hours of relatively fast travel, the main computer again starts bipping, warning the crew that manual steering had to be done in order to successfully land the ship. From your windows you can see a small but strong planet. The atmosphere is breathable and there is enough diversity in the planet that could feed off a whole sector. TD4, as all of you know from your research before accepting the mission, is a wild planet with lots of unexplored and untamed areas. Only one other meeting had taken place here before the Kituri, the mysterious alien race you were sent to gain information of. The Union has rushed some construction work here before the negotiation, trying to make the place as comfortable as possible but there is not much at the moment. A rather flat and easy-to-survive part of the planet, a forest out of many, have been first burned down and then repurposed for the official meetings. Other continents of the planet have not been explored as it has three large pangea like lands covering more than half of the planet.

Your sensors does not indicate any ships nearby at the moment.

Hiro takes over control of the ship and guides it towards the planet, TD4, as they get closer.

"Where are we putting down?" he asks the others. "Should we scan the surface first?"