Game date: August 30, EY217
Previous events: I fought the law and the law won
It's been a busy couple of days and it's late by the time the crew gets back to Lettojin Hotel. Malcolm heads down to the hotel bar for a drink or two before going to bed. Jillian just wants to get to bed and get some much-needed sleep. Coming out of the shower she sees a note has been slipped under her door. It's from Bishop and reads as follows:
Dear Captain,
I am sorry to have accidentally found out about your terrible secret. I did not wish to intrude on your private life, I was simply trying to help you. As you well know, I would never do anything to cause you harm, you are my captain! You gave me an exiting new life travelling the stars and for that I am eternally grateful.
This being said, I now understand that this Rusanov cannot be directly confronted as he is protected by weird laws and that all of this is hard to prove. Trying to take matters in our own hands did not work out as planned and it only got V in jail, which I also regret. I should not have let my feelings override my common sense.
But fear not, this is not the end as Rusanov is not off the hook yet. You see, on my native uBuntu, when such injustice is left uncorrected it is customary to undertake what we call a life quest. The goal of such an endeavour is to ensure that the universe treats the target of the life quest as he or she has treated the wronged person. Now, this might seem difficult as this Rusanov has considerable resources, while I do not. But I am young and have all the time in the world, which usually is an important aspect of the Life Quest .... it does have the word "life" in it. Besides, I am sure V and Malcolm will be more than happy to help me out.
So, do not worry about me doing anything rash, I am simply telling you that I am starting a Life Quest on your behalf and I will not quit until Rusanov has been made to pay. This will not be soon, but I guarantee that in time his life will be much worse than what he did to you and he will not it coming.
If you wish, I can tell you when it is all done so you can go see him and tell him ... well, whatever you want!
I remain your friend, always.
Nhlakanipho
(That's Bishop by the way)
Deeply touched, Jillian goes to Bishop's room and catches him before he leaves for a night on the town. They talk briefly and she thanks him for his offer. They hug and then head back to their rooms. The past few days have on the whole been good for Jillian, she decides. Bishop, on the other hand, is largely unaffected by the events and is ready to party.
In the Lettojin Hotel bar Malcolm relaxes. The Devereaux Daredevils, the flying circus that Malcolm grew up in, hasn't been in Aiscapo for a while, but Malcolm talks about them to a bartender who is either very interested or very good at acting interested. He eventually tells Malcolm that if he's really interested in flying he should check out Maurice Clegman's pub, Clegman's Cockpit, in Mokpo. Malcolm is immediately interested: Clegman is a legendary pilot who wrote the book on flying and is Malcolm's hero. Mokpo is the second-largest city on Daebak and about 2000km to the south. If the Steel Hummingbird were busy it might be too far but with Volkova imprisoned for a month they've got time to kill... Malcolm eventually drinks his fill and heads to bed.
Out on the town, Bishop is looking to "get some" and wants to go clubbing. He likes the looks of the people in the lineup to a nearby club called "Electric Avenue" (no doubt a reference to Wonju's plentiful hydroelectric power and electric trams). He hasn't had a chance to buy some truly nice clothes and doesn't have the cash in hand to grease the doorman's palm, so it's an hourlong wait until he finally gets in. His charm has its usual effect once he's in there and he brings a girl back to the hotel for the night.
Everyone gets up early the next day to meet Professor Rolf Fisher in the hotel's restaurant. Bishop is embarrassed to find out that his conquest from the previous night has snuck off while he was asleep with his money! He doesn't bother to try to hide this from the others and isn't embarrassed or angry; it's just money. Jillian tries to talk to him but in his eyes she's old and out of touch; these are just the risks one takes. Malcolm doesn't particularly care and in the end it doesn't make too much of a difference anyway, as Jillian splits the money from telling their story to The Star before they head down to see the professor. It's a good thing that she didn't do that the night before!
Rolf Fisher is waiting for them in the restaurant. Over breakfast they give him a sample of the data, some printouts of the sensor readings they took (for immediate inspection) and a few photos. He's fascinated by the stuff: this is the first time that functional xenotechnology has been seen outside of something like Walküren's frustrating Loge. Fisher mentions that at least he can examine the data here in Aiscapo instead of heading to Wellgunde, one of Grimgerde's moons, where physical items are examined in a secret lab that he probably shouldn't have mentioned.
Malcolm brings up the idea that Bishop would likely know how to use some of the devices that are in the university's xenotech museum, hoping to gain access to them, but Fisher reveals that the items in the museum are just replicas. There's no way that something as potentially powerful as xenotech would be left in flimsy display cases! No, that sort of thing is taken to Wellgunde. There's also no way that Bishop could get into the base on Wellgunde to try out some of the xenotech; the base is top secret and someone like Bishop isn't even supposed to know about its existence, much less go there! While they talk about the devices Fisher seems to be completely oblivious to uBuntu's Dreaming and pretty much anything about the iLanga system. It seems that if it doesn't have any xenotech of note it's completely uninteresting to the professor. His insensitivity rankles Bishop, but the young man is mature enough to write down a complete set of instructions he has Dreamed of for one of the devices he saw in the museum. Fisher takes the instructions and the information with him. He'll contact the crew once he's had the chance to examine it in more detail.
They split up for the rest of the day. Now that he has some cash Bishop can spend most of his money on another set of very nice clothes.
Jillian arranges to have the atmospheric engine on the Steel Hummingbird replaced with a better one: they can afford it and Malcolm would like something that has a bit more punch in atmo, especially after what happened on Kali! Jillian spends some time on the phone wrangling with mechanics at Osan Base about the engine and finds one that is an upgraded version of what they already have. It won't be any cheaper but it will take far less time to install; they'll basically swap out the current engines for a greatly improved model without having to severely modify the rest of the ship. On a roll, she then goes to the police to get Knuta released to Volkova when (if) she gets out of prison. The cops want to keep it for evidence but don't really have cause to, it not really being an illegal weapon, and in the end Jillian wears them down to the point that they agree to return Volkova her wrench once she's a free woman again.
Malcolm rents a place for a month and gets a rental car to boot. A rental house will be much less expensive than staying at the hotel and he's tired of riding the trams everywhere.
They move into the new place that evening. Jillian and Malcolm have a quiet night in playing boardgames and sparring. Malcolm may have learned hand-to-hand combat back in basic training but it's obvious after the fight in Aiscapo University's security office that he's forgotten it. After practicing with Jillian for a while he remembers some basic techniques and feels more confident. Bishop thinks that they're both boring and goes clubbing again. With money and a new sleek suit he aims higher and tries his luck at The Spark, a classier club than Electric Avenue. He gets in quickly and once again gets lucky. Not wanting to shock the old people of his crew -- or have his "date" meet them -- he goes back to her place for the night.
Jillian decides the next day, September 1st, to get her sentence over with and clean Alexei Rusanov's statue. She calls Wonju's police and Aiscapo University's security to tell them that she'll be working that day and picks up some cleaning supplies on the way over. Bishop and Malcolm pitch in, partially to help their friend and partially to be there if Rusanov shows up. Much to everyone's relief, he doesn't. Late in the afternoon Jillian asks Malcolm if he likes the sculptures. Of course not, he says, but he's a terrible liar and Jillian sees through him. She's hurt, but what can you do? She knows by now that you can't force people to realize the worth of true art.
The job takes the better part of the day and they're all ready for a drink by the time it's done. Jillian and Malcolm drag Bishop to a pilot's bar they know near the spaceport, the Vertical Drop. Bishop hates it from the first moment: everyone here is old and doesn't know how to dress well. The Hummingbird's crew are pleased to see that everyone from the Resplendent Dragon is present! They squeeze together at a table and talk, swapping stories about what they've been up to in the month since they last saw each other. Aliens are pointedly not brought up. Noticing Volkova's absence, Xao asks if they're looking for a new engineer. Jillian admits that this is true but insists that this time they only need a temporary engineer. Volkova is still alive as far as Jillian knows. Xao knows a good engineer who lives in Wonju and who might be looking for work. His name is Gordon Garrison. Garrison may be a bit haughty but he knows his stuff. Bishop finds all these topics agonizingly boring and makes his exit as soon as he can. He's off to find someone to have sex with, a task at which he succeeds.
Back at the Vertical Drop Xao asks Jillian if she's ready for the chemota run. In all the chaos of aliens and getting shot down she's almost forgotten! Chemota are a fruit that only ripen for a few days on Haesik-nim, the jungle planet one orbit in from Daebak. They're a delicacy on Daebak and can't really be stored or effectively grown anywhere but their native planet. This means that there is a mad rush to get the fruit to Daebak while the brief season is on. It's a brutal six days of running your engine flat out to make as many runs as possible, and with only 0.3AU between the orbits of the planets in question several runs and a fair amount of money can be made. Of course they'll make the run but they'll need to get that engineer if they're going to be pushing their engines to the limit. It's late enough by the time that Jillian and Malcolm take their leave from the Vertical Drop that they decide it's best to call Garrison the next day. On the way back to their new place Jillian finds some debris in an alleyway that she thinks would be perfect in a new sculpture that she's thinking of. She drags it home and works on it through the night.
They call Gordon Garrison the next day, September 2nd. They catch him at home and he agrees to see them at Café Luma for lunch. He's from Piccadilly and more than a bit haughty but his qualifications all work out and he seems familiar with the Steel Hummingbird's model. He's hired! They won't need to leave for the chemota run until late tomorrow so they tell him that they'll call him the next day and they can take a shuttle to Eondeog together.
With pretty much a whole day to spend on whatever they want, Malcolm suggests going to Mokpo to stop in at Clegman's Cockpit. Actually, he insists more than suggests. Now that he knows that his idol lives on the same planet that he's standing on he's quite interested in going there. Mokpo is about 2000km south of Wonju, so driving there or taking the train will be too slow. Plane tickets are about the same price as train tickets, since meals and beds are included for the train's day-long trip, and Mokpo's status as the second-largest city on the planet means that flights to it are frequent. Tickets are purchased and a flight is taken. Bishop chats up the flight attendant on the way and exchanges contact information with her. Malcolm rents an automobile at the Mokpo airport and they drive to Clegman's Cockpit. Mokpo is a much more spread-out city than Wonju and has a much more industrial feel. This makes sense: it is a largely industrial city after all. It also has much less in the way of public transport, so the automobile is a good idea.
Clegman's Cockpit is heaven on earth for Malcolm. Authentic memorabilia lines the walls and he knows the origins of most of it. He knows a frightening amount about Clegman given that the man's never written an autobiography and shares what he knows with Bishop and Jillian regardless of their wishes: about Clegman's poor beginnings in the Providence system, joining the navy to escape poverty, discovering his unparalleled skills as a pilot, becoming a rescue pilot in the Walküren system, eventually winning every flight competition of note in the cluster for a dozen years straight, finally retiring and writing what is considered the quintessential book on flight.
Jillian's fairly interested in this but Bishop is once again trapped in a geriatric bar and bored out of his wits. Worse, this town doesn't look like the sort of place that he'll be able to find a club or any place fun, and not being able to drive or anyone even having thought about renting a room means he's pretty much doomed to be here for as long as Jillian and Malcolm want to stay. His mood doesn't improve when the man himself shows up. Clegman is old. Not old in the way that Bishop sees everyone over the age of 25, but just plain old. He looks like he's in his late sixties, with a bit of a comb-over and badly yellowed teeth.
Clegman works the room, moving from table to table in a practiced way, chatting and laughing with the patrons. He may or may not like the act but if he doesn't he hides it very well. When he gets to the Hummingbird's table Malcolm manages to get over a sudden shyness and introduce himself. Once Clegman finds out that Malcolm Devereaux is related to the Devereaux Daredevils he becomes very interested. The two of them talk for a while about their experiences before Clegman reluctantly pulls away to do another tour of the other tables. He seems to be an extremely sociable man, keeping this up for most of the night. He does come back to the Hummingbird's table more and more often and stays longer and longer.
As closing hour approaches Clegman asks them where they're staying for the night. When they sheepishly admit that they haven't got a place to stay yet he offers them his place, just out of town. Malcolm is giddy with joy! A limo pulls up as the pub is closing up -- Clegman has apparently done well for himself -- and everyone climbs in. There is a minibar inside and Malcolm takes advantage of it.
The limo takes them to Clegman's mansion just outside of town. It's enormous: Clegman has apparently done *very* well for himself. Kim Hi-Sung, one of his servants, is still up and takes the visitors in stride. She makes up rooms for them and provides food and drink. They stay up late talking in one of the enormous rooms that has yet more memorabilia of Clegman's life in it. Bishop, bored, wanders off to explore the cavernous building and Jillian, try as she might to stay interested in the pilot talk, eventually finds it too much for her fairly minimal flight experience. She heads off to make sure that Bishop is not getting himself into trouble. He is, in fact, doing just that, managing to seduce Kim Hi-Sung in the pantry despite her concerns about her job. Jillian, curious, follows a strange noise until she finds them and then, face flushed red and unsure of what else to do, stands watch while they finish to make sure they're not disturbed.
While everyone else is occupied Malcolm asks Clegman a few questions. Why has he never written an autobiography? Clegman replies that he's already lived his life and doesn't need to relive it. His book on piloting is far more important and he feels justifiably proud of that. Malcolm asks Clegman if he's ever seen any extremely strange stuff and then, before Clegman answers, Malcolm tries to impress his idol by telling him all about the alien encounter that the Steel Hummingbird had in Vishnu. With details. Lots of details. He feels bad about it afterwards but can't help himself in the moment. The fact that Clegman is very impressed by his story doesn't do anything to stop him from going on about it at great length. Eventually everyone is worn out (for varying reasons) and goes to bed.
Breakfast is in front of a giant picture window that looks out the back of the house. As further evidence that Clegman has a not insignificant amount of cash, he's got two aircraft and a runway for them behind his home. Both look like roomy, sporty craft, far outside what anyone else present could afford. Kim doesn't treat Bishop very well during the meal, giving him food that's cold and coffee that's hot but watery and almost ends up in his lap. Breakfast is a less leisurely affair than it can be, as the Hummingbird's crew needs to get up to their ship and get going on the chemota run. They happily take Clegman up on his offer to fly them to Wonju himself. Malcolm is especially happy to actually be in an aircraft that Clegman himself is piloting.
Before they climb aboard Clegman can't help but to show off the aircraft inside and out. Bishop gets the feeling that he's showing them the engines with an ulterior motive, that there's something about them that he wants the crew to comment on. Sadly, none of them knows engines nearly well enough to pick up whatever he's showing. They comment that their engineer would likely appreciate these fine engines and Clegman extends the invitation to visit any time and to bring their engineer along next time. Something about the whole situation reminds Bishop of a Dream he once had where a ship was flying among strange stars. It's not the most detailed Dream he's ever had but it feels strongly attached to this moment.
They all get into the Little Darling, the redder of the two craft, and Clegman shows that the advancing years have done little to hamper his legendary skill as a pilot. He claims that he only flies once or twice a year these days but certainly doesn't fly like that's the case. Malcolm is in the cockpit, naturally, and pays close attention to Clegman's actions. He also notices that the cockpit controls are modified, something that you can do if you've got enough money. As they fly to the north Clegman asks Malcolm if he wants to take the stick for a bit. Malcolm eagerly but nervously agrees and impresses Clegman with his own skill, something he feels very good about. In the rear seats Bishop tells Jillian about his Dream. He has no idea what it means but feels that it's important.
Maurice Clegman's apparently feeling generous and offers to fly them directly to Osan Station! On the way they call Gordon Garrison from the Little Darling, telling him to grab a shuttle to the moon and meet them at the Steel Hummingbird's berth.
Clegman wants to see the Hummingbird and upon seeing it simply says "Well." Jillian hurredly explains the large unpainted sections as the result of a new set of engines being installed and also various repairs that have yet to be painted over. Several of the panels in the engineering section are also new and as yet unsullied. The only thing he says during the brief tour of the interior is the same: "Well." His reaction is difficult to gauge. Neet, Olivia, and Xao show up at the Hummingbird; she's pretty easy to find. Neet and Xao in particular are starstruck by Clegman and it takes him a while to extricate himself from the adoring group and take his leave but not before telling Malcolm once again that he's welcome any time. This certainly gives him a boost in Neet and Xao's eyes!
Bishop and Olivia seem to have enjoyed their last encounter and are soon off to "check out the Dragon". While they're occupied Xao offers a bet to Jillian. Why not make the chemota run a little more interesting? Everyone's going to be up for pretty much the whole six days anyway. To keep everyone focused the wager will be that the ship that brings in more fruit by mass will win half of the other group's winnings. The Resplendent Dragon has a larger hold than the Steel Hummingbird but the Hummingbird is faster: on the surface this is pretty much an even race. This would hardly be the first bet between the two ships and so far they've been pretty evenly matched. Jillian agrees.
When Garrison shows up he doesn't seem terribly impressed by the Hummingbird. "Did some kids get to it?" he asks, looking incredulously at the paint job. He doesn't seem too taken by the interior's artwork either. The fact that he'll have to share quarters with Bishop would go over much worse if anyone was going to get any real sleep over the next several days. He makes a few vaguely dismissive statements and gets to work examining the state of things, scraping paint off of gauges, and making himself at home in the engineering section. He may not like the ship's paint job or be terribly impressed with the crew but the ship is in the best shape she's been in for a while and he's got nothing to complain about there.
There are several ships making this run; they head off in a messy group for Haesik-nim and its fruit, but the Dragon and Hummingbird only have eyes for each other. The next six days are exhausting. Flying sunward, landing on Haesik-nim, immediately getting loaded up with fruit, flying it back to Eondeog, and repeating the journey over and over -- the planets are close enough that flight time is minimal. Both ships involved in the wager can land on the planet directly, which speeds up their loading process.
Bishop makes special energy drinks to keep everyone going but refuses to tell anyone what's gone into it. This is probably for the best. No one especially wants to know. Gordon Garrison keeps making disparaging comments but keeps the engines working as Malcolm pushes them to their limits the whole way. Jillian plots the best path she can to take advantage of the vagaries of the space drive and how it reacts to different parts of space. There's a lot of maneuvering that goes on in addition to the flying kind: trash talking the competition the whole way over the comms, using every trick they've got to jump the queue for loading and unloading... no one is especially sure who is ahead, especially when the Dragon disappears for a while. They do notice a lot of activity at the Eondeog Naval Base when they unload.
By the time the six days are up and they land at Osan Station on Eondeog for the last time everyone is exhausted and half delirious. Perhaps the biggest surprise to Jillian and Malcolm is that Garrison has survived the trip and with all of his limbs intact! They were debating making a bet about his chances of making it through the whole six days but neither one wanted to bet that he would. The Resplendent Dragon's crew gets a boost of energy when the final tally of chemota fruit is done and they've come out ahead! No one's in any shape to do much celebrating and they agree to meet up the next day to settle accounts. Garrison is paid his wages and thanked for his service; the next flight of the Hummingbird will hopefully have her usual engineer on board. He's happy to get paid but still not especially thrilled with the Hummingbird's crew. He doesn't have any complaints about the ship, though.
September 9th is largely a day of exhausted sleep. Bishop, who got more sleep than anyone else during the chemota run, checks their messages at Osan Station and finds that Rolf Fisher has called them! He returns the call and finds that Fisher is indeed very interested in their data. He'll meet them at the top of Homeworld Tower, the tallest structure in Wonju, at 2pm the next day. He asks Bishop to be subtle; after all, the data should go to the Homeworld Office for the Acquisition of Xenotechnology and what they're doing is illegal. Jillian calls Jinjing Wei, her old teacher at the naval academy, and makes a date to meet her the next day. Malcolm calls *his* friend in the navy, Marcus Blith, who has risen in the ranks to Commodore, and makes a date to meet him on the 12th; Blith is going to be busy until the 11th but can't say why. Later in the evening the crews meet up again and the Hummingbird pays the Dragon their winnings. It's cold comfort but at least the Dragon's crew pays for drinks that night. There is a laugh when the Dragon's crew reveals why they disappeared for a while during the run: they were tied up helping out a disabled ship, the Cheap Bastard. The Bastard, captained by Domenic Dolezal, is notorious for saving money by skipping on basic maintenance and using the savings to undercharge other couriers. The ship naturally breaks down a lot but Dolezal is careful to stay in the busier shipping lanes and take advantage of laws that insist that ships respond to the distress calls of other ships and render them necessary aid. The Steel Hummingbird alone has come to the Cheap Bastard's aid eleven times in the past seven years.
The Hummingbird's crew sleeps on board the ship that night and splits up on the 10th. Jillian goes to meet Jinjing Wei and Malcolm decides to check out the city of Wonju some more, possibly looking for The Calendar again. He seems to be a man possessed. Bishop is the best of the group at negotiations and business dealings and so will meet Professor Fisher with the data. He and Malcolm take a shuttle down to Wonju and go their separate ways.
Homeworld Tower is pretty easy to find, being the tallest structure in Wonju. Bishop is casual about heading there and all seems fine until he takes the elevator up to its observation deck and notices that there are two people in the elevator with him that he recognizes from the tram. They might be following him. As the glass-fronted elevator passes behind a structural support Bishop examines the two in the reflective glass. They're both short and look not quite Aiscapan, dressed in pretty much identical suits. One seems to be female and the other male, but their faces, sunglasses, haircuts, and clothing are so indentical that he's not entirely sure.
He decides to take the bull by the horns and greets the two of them. The female one asks him if his name is Nhlakanipho Ngwenya. He admits that it is, surprised that someone not from uBuntu can actually pronounce it properly. She shows her identification and introduces herself as Inspector How and her companion as Inspector Wen of the Homeworld Office for the Acquisition of Xenotechnology. Bishop starts to worry; by law the sensor data and photos should be turned over to the Office and there are definite legal ramifications if one does not do so. He pleads ignorance but is rudely informed that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Inspector How asks him if he has any such information and he agrees that he does, but back at the home the Hummingbird's crew is renting. The data is actually in his pocket and he's hoping the inspectors don't notice. They don't seem to... thus far. The inspectors want to head back right away but Bishop convinces them that, since the elevator is heading up anyway and he was going to meet a friend, they should let him at least tell his friend what's going on. They agree and the elevator is soon at the observation deck.
The view from the observation deck is spectacular but Bishop has other things on his mind. He leaves the inspectors at the elevator, as they'd agreed, and finds Fisher eating chips in the small snack area. When Fisher asks if Bishop has been followed Bishop says that he has and casually points at the inspectors, who are staring back intently. Fisher has a minor fit. Why did Bishop come, then? Why did he come over and give away that he's visiting Fisher? The professor has no desire to run afoul of the law. Bishop replies that he just needed to show that he's meeting someone and will now leave. Fisher says that he'll think about whether or not he'll want to meet up with them again: he desperately wants the data but the risk is now far larger than it was.
Bishop takes his leaves and heads back down the elevator with the inspectors. Reaching ground level, they take an official-looking car back to the Hummingbird's rented house. Wen drives while How sits in the back and interrogates Bishop about the circumstances of his obtaining the data. He tells them the truth about their encounter with the "pirate ship" Gurg back in Vishnu but leaves out their own previous encounter with a putative alien ship.
No one is at the rental house and Bishop once again convinces the agents to wait while he gets the data. He quickly hides what he hopes is their own data and gives the inspectors what he desperately hopes is the Gurg data: with them both being unlabelled he's not entirely certain. He also hopes that they have a backup. They ask who made this copy of the Gurg data ( he gives them Jillian's name) and they give him their card, telling him to pass on the message to Jillian that she should call them by the next day. They leave, but not before making more vague comments about legal penalties.
Bishop needs to get a hold of some one else. Volkova is still in prison and won't be any help. Jillian is meeting her friend on Eondeog; the phone might be tapped, but he won't tell her anything incriminating over it. He tries calling the Eondeog Naval Base but doesn't know enough about how the military works or enough about Jillian's friend and doesn't make any headway. Malcolm is somewhere in Wonju... perhaps the Air and Space Museum? He finds their number and tries to get Malcolm paged but he doesn't seem to be there. Not sure what else to do Bishop ends up taking a shuttle up to the moon. There's a single location where people board the shuttle and he'll wait there for Jillian.
Bishop's Bedpost Notch Count: Four. (running total: 10)
Volkova's Bedpost Notch Count: Zero (running total: 1)
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Game date: August 30, EY217
Previous events: I, too, fought the law and the law won
Volkova's sentence begins almost immediately. She is bundled onto a short bus with two guards and two other prisoners. Everyone is female. All Volkova has on her is some cigarettes and a few technical manuals that she's been going through, but she thinks that should be enough. The prison is a two hour drive south of Wonju. On the way the prisoners all keep quiet. Volkova has decided to keep her head down during her term so as to not get into any more trouble.
It's early afternoon and drizzling when the bus gets to Sogbag Women's Penal Institution D. The prison itself looks almost like a low-rent boarding school. Three dormitory-style buildings surround an administration building. The only thing physically keeping inmates from escaping is an almost four-metre tall chain link fence with razor wire on top but even then the gate is currently wide open and unguarded. Minimum-security prisons run on the idea that with decent conditions and relatively short prison terms there isn't much incentive to make a break for freedom; all that gets you if you're caught is a longer term in a less-pleasant higher security prison.
Volkova is the only one who gets off the bus here and an unfriendly-looking female guard whose name tag reads "Gang" checks off on the driver's clipboard and takes her into the administration building. Volkova has a moderate amount of paperwork to fill out and gets her outfit replaced with a lovely set of blue overalls. She opts to keep her money, cigarettes, and technical manuals. There is a short interview process and after she reveals her accreditation as a mechanic she's offered a job in that capacity during her stay at the prison. She accepts; they'll give her a job anyway and there's no reason to till the soil or wash clothing, neither of which she's got any real experience with. Her new ID is as prisoner 8082114.
Once everything is in order she's taken by Gang to her new home, cell C4. It's a small, single-room apartment, not unlike a double-occupancy university residence. She has a cellmate who introduces herself as Hollie McAllister. Hollie's from Piccadilly and seems friendly enough. She's tall and spread out on her bed reading what looks like a work of fiction, her long red hair all over her face. Hollie and Volkova introduce themselves and chat for a bit about where they've been and other fairly safe topics. Hollie reveals that she came most recently from Providence and briefly brings up the arms manufacturers there. After a little while another guard, Sin, gets Volkova and takes her to the infirmary. Sin is quite ugly and much friendlier than Gang. She waits while Volkova has a brief medical examination and has her badly banged up arm looked at. Volkova passes off her injury as the result of a repair job and the nurse says that she'll do what she can but that the arm should be treated carefully until it mostly heals on its own. That should take a week or two.
By now it's time for dinner and Sin takes Volkova to the mess hall. There are about 150 prisoners here. Volkova finds Hollie and sits next to her. There don't seem to be any gangs or tight groupings of friends here; pretty much no one is in here long enough or part of a gang on the outside that has representatives in minimum-security. Hollie doesn't mind Volkova sitting next to her and it's not as if anyone else is. The food is singularly unimpressive and mushy, making Volkova think fondly of Bishop's cooking. Lots of salt and pepper makes it somewhat more palatable. When Volkova brings up the topic of alcohol Hollie points out a Walküren with a large nose by the name of Katja two tables over; if Volkova really wants something to drink that's the person to talk to.
After dinner Volkova is taken to see the warden in the administration building. It's stopped raining. Warden Whang is more than attractive enough to be a model and seems intelligent to boot. Volkova can't work out what she's doing as a warden nor why she wants to talk to Volkova personally, though this seems to be standard operating procedure here. Whang gives Volkova a rundown of the rules at Sogbag and they seem similar to her home back in Walküren if not as strict.
After talking to the warden Sin takes Volkova to the repair garage behind the other buildings where she'll start working tomorrow. There is a prison van there with "Sogbag Women's Penal Institution" stencilled on the side and two aircraft. One is a very small cargo craft and the other is a recreational vehicle used to fly off somewhere and then live in it, almost like a portable hotel room. This is fairly standard in prisons; people can bring their vehicles here to be repaired at low rates with the understanding that they'll get fixed when they get fixed.
Volkova is next taken to the exercise yard next to the farm. There is the ability to play sports here or just relax in the outdoors. Volkova hangs out on her own for a while and smokes a cigarette but soon finds the open space unpleasant. She goes to the moderately well-equipped gym and works out for a while, favouring her injured arm.
Returning to her cell she talks some more to Hollie, who is reading again. Volkova inquires about the book. It doesn't look like reference material and she's a bit confused by it. Hollie tries to explain what a romance novel is and eventually just passes a book over. This is a new experience for Volkova: fiction. It takes her a while to get used to it but she eventually finds that despite the patently false nature of the story and characters she's quite enamoured with it. She reads until lights out.
The next day she starts to work on the prison truck's engine. It goes well and she soon has it running. Taking a look at the other minor damage that delivery vehicles inevitably occur she comes across a panel in the side of the cargo area that can -- surprisingly -- be removed. Inside it is a package of white powder! She may be innocent to the ways of sappy novels but she knows full well what this is. She finds Sin, the friendlier guard she's met, and tells her about this. Sin takes her and the drugs to the warden. The radiant Whang thanks Volkova for bringing this to their attention and tells her that they'll handle it from here. Volkova shrugs and goes back to work. The rest of the day goes blandly, as does the next.
On September 2nd, Volkova is taken to the warden again. Beautiful Whang thanks her again for telling them about the drugs and makes her another offer which would reduce her time served. The warden knows that Hollie McAllister is in prison for a fairly minor offence but believes that she's done more. She wants Volkova to find out what, but doesn't tell Volkova any other details. Volkova agrees and is sent back to work. She has no idea how she, who doesn't have much in the way of social skills, is going to pull this off, but she'll give it a try.
By coincidence Hollie is assigned to clean the interior of the RV-like aircraft the very next day. Volkova plays up her injured arm to not work on the mechanical parts of the aircraft and help Hollie instead. The interior of the vehicle is absolutely filthy. Whoever lived in here was a slob and it looks like they enjoyed doing loop-the-loops while dinner was being served. It's a bonding experience for the two and they talk the whole time they're in there. Volkova, to her surprise, manages to get information out of Hollie! She finds out that Hollie was caught on Jageun, the smaller moon of Juche, the next planet out in this system. She managed to get into the base by some unusual means, not by landing at the spaceport, and was caught with a false ID. Volkova feels good about having found this out.
It's truly a filthy RV and it takes them another full day to clean it up. There is an unexpected bonus when Volkova comes across a pearl necklace in the debris! She has no idea if it's real or not but decides to secretly pocket it and find out later. As on the previous day there's a lot of conversation between the two but this time it's Volkova who spills the beans. She tells Hollie about the close encounter with aliens, that the Steel Hummingbird has both photos and sensor data -- including some from the wrecked pirate ship Gurg -- that they're going to sell to a professor at Aiscapo University. She also brings up the artefacts in the museum at Aiscapo University and that her shipmate, Bishop, knows how to use them.
Thinking about why she revealed all this Volkova comes to the realization that Hollie likely knows that Volkova is trying to get information from her and is trying the same thing on her! The next day Hollie is reassigned to another task, the RV finally being clean, and Volkova tries to do some real repairs. Unfortunately her arm is still giving her a bit of trouble and she's distracted enough from mulling over the last few days that it's not a very productive work day.
That night she talks to Hollie again but it doesn't go well for Volkova. When she feels trapped by Hollie's conversation and on the verge of revealing more she has a minor breakdown. She feels that she finally, at forty-three years old, has a friend in Jillian and can open up to someone. Here is her cellmate who seemed like something like a friend and who is manipulating her into opening up in a way that she's almost totally helpless to resist while she is trying to do the same thing. She suddenly feels very lonely and finds herself choosing her words so carefully that she just ends up tripping over her tongue. She decides to give talking a rest.
On September 6th her arm finally feels better but she's depressed and it's another unproductive day. She spends her evening before lights out in the prison's anemic library reading what she can on psychiatric problems. The next day is much the same.
Deciding to take another chance with Hollie, Volkova has some success and finds out that Hollie flew in a ship (which she never refers to as "her" ship) from Providence, landed it on Jageun, and walked to the moon's spaceport. Hollie feels proud enough about this accomplishment that she openly reveals it.
September 9th: the engines she's working on stubbornly refuse to work. It's a relief when Volkova is called into the warden's office to reveal what she's found out so far about Hollie. She tells gorgeous Whang that Hollie mentioned that she flew in from Providence and mentioned arms manufacturers, but keeps the rest secret. Whang is disappointed that Volkova didn't find anything else but it was a shot in the dark anyway. Given Volkova's good behaviour, turning over of the drugs, and snitching, her release date has been moved up considerably to September 13th. Just four days away!
Feeling good about herself Volkova ends up in her usual competent form as a mechanic and manages to make good headway on both aircraft the next day, though she hurts her arm again in the process. She'll have to be careful about that. The day is made even better when Sin tells her that she has visitors!
Bishop's Bedpost Notch Count: Zero. (running total: 10)
Volkova's Bedpost Notch Count: Zero (running total: 1)