007

Game Date: August 18th, EY217

Location: Interplanetary space off of Indra (Vishnu system)

Previous events: "We're being scanned, captain. Oh yeah, that's me."

The Steel Hummingbird is being scanned. Jillian is sure of it, though she can't recognize who is doing it. She reports this on the intra-ship comms and everyone jumps into action. Bishop runs up to the bridge and Malcolm turns the ship to see who it is as Volkova runs to the gun, but the mysterious ship moves to stay in their blind spot. Malcolm finally jerks the ship dramatically and the other ship can finally be clearly seen out the window. It's not like anything they've ever seen before and designed totally unlike any of Homeworld's ships: about the size of a single-seat fighter, it has what looks like a pulsating crown that spins around the roughly cylindrical main body while several tentacles writhe behind. Volkova takes as many photos of it as she can with the gun camera while being careful not to fire the gun. Malcolm tries to hail it, but it's not responding. It's still scanning them and Jillian returns the favour, trying to work out the composition of its hull. The sensor readings suddenly change and a strange feeling comes over everyone. Jillian, the only one to have travelled on a jump ship, recognizes the feeling of an imminent jump and the Hummingbird backs off to what it hopes is a safe distance. The mysterious ship seems to wobble and implode as it apparently jumps.

There is much confusion on board the Hummingbird. The ship definitely seems to have jumped, but it was much too small to normally do so: jump drives are far larger than the entire Hummingbird while the ship was much smaller. Sensor readings are plentiful but confusing. The many photos will hopefully turn out well. Bishop quietly shares that he had a dream about ships like this one; he was swimming along with many of them in a fast "stream" in space, and they liked his cooking. There are raised eyebrows at this, but Bishop's dreams do sometimes have a deeper meaning. As they continue towards Indra, they discuss what to do with the photos and scanner readings. There's money to be made here, they're sure of it. The photos can be sold to a media outlet, assuming they're any good. Jillian can't wait and develops many of the photos in the ship's makeshift darkroom despite not having any real experience doing so: she follows a handwritten set of instructions written up by a previous engineer. Despite her clumsy work they turn out, and they're lovely. The readings don't have the same immediate punch and will need analysis by someone who is qualified to do such a thing. Going to the Aiscapo system seems to be the best bet for both. As Homeworld's major system in the cluster it will have the richest media headquarters and the only university in the cluster, where there should be a researcher who would be willing to pay for the readings.

A day and a half later, the ship lands at Indra's moon Lakshmi. Although the official name for the mine is "Green Star Mining Operation 119" the control tower insists on calling it "The Masala Bowl". The docking bay is unpressurized. An umbilical connects to the door of the Hummingbird while the cargo is removed from the cargo bay and the crew paid without any fuss, which is a welcome relief from the way that things have gone recently. Being on a small moon, The Masala Bowl/Green Star Mining Operation 119 has very low gravity. Jillian and Malcolm trained for these sorts of conditions in the military and don't have too much trouble, but Bishop and Volkova bounce around rather more than they'd like. Jillian asks if any theatre productions are happening soon, and they're in luck. "Panjeet in Love", the first of the famous Panjeet trilogy, is on in two days. The crew decide to stay and see the show; The Masala Bowl has a reputation for surprisingly good community theatre. Bishop and Malcolm find some empty rooms in the colony, but Jillian has a lot of blank canvas on the Hummingbird and Volkova doesn't see any reason to sleep anywhere else. They'll stay on the ship.

Over the next two days everyone finds something to like about the mining colony. Almost all of the workers are male, but it has a community feel to it and has been painted and decorated in a cozy manner. The food is good and the people friendly, quite a difference from much of their previous travels! Bishop manages to sleep with two women in his free time, quite an achievement with the sex ratio being so skewed to his disadvantage. Jillian spends her time in an EVA suit, painting the exterior of the Hummingbird by jumping in the microgravity and dabbing with a brush loaded with hull paint as she passes by the ship. It looks much like any of her work. Malcolm asks about anything having to do with aliens; he gets typical rumours, but more so than usual. People do point out that the inhabitants of the Dobbs habitat have been excited lately. The Dobbs habitat is a ramshackle exotech prospector's camp that orbits past the gas giant Ganesha, the next planet out. Its inhabitants poke through the mangled wreck of the Leary, the jump ship that popped into the system about five years ago and exploded. Volkova spends her two days on the ship or in the mine's well-stocked bar. On the second day one of the mine's engineers, as drunk as Volkova, mocks her beloved wrench Knuta. Knuta is obviously nonstandard and the sort of tool that has no right to be able to repair or adjust anything according to the engineer. The two of them trade slurred jibes for a while before it turns into an actual brawl. Neither one is very good in a fistfight and Volkova's attempt to throw a bowl of curry into her opponent's face fails horribly in the low gravity: she ends up getting a face-full herself [system note: she ended up with a "curry face" temporary Aspect]. She decides she's had enough of this flailing and pulls out the intimidating heft of Knuta, which ends the fight quickly as the mine's engineer backs down.

It's finally time for the production of "Panjeet in Love". It seems like the entire colony goes to the show, which takes place in a large spherical space that has been carved out the rock. It doesn't have any atmosphere, so everyone shows up in EVA suits, with music and dialogue piped in through the radios. The show takes full advantage of the microgravity and three-dimensional stage: long hours of practice, microthrusters, long ribbons, and a dazzling light show all combine to make the show extremely memorable. Jillian and Malcolm have both seen performances here before and enjoy themselves; "enthralled" might be a better description of Jillian' s reaction. Bishop thinks it's a waste of resources. Volkova, face still somewhat discoloured by the spices in the dish of curry in the bar, seems to need time to digest what she's seen. She describes it as "very interesting".

Bishop's Bedpost Notch Count: Two. (running total: 6)

Volkova's Bedpost Notch Count: Zero (running total: 1)