Date: April 28, 2012
Game date: November 30th, EY217
Location: Providence system
Previous events: illegal toxic waste dump and surprise Iof
The Eggen Observatory staff gapes at the Iof floating by the observatory and the Hummingbird's crew sees the usual set of emotions cross their faces: amazement at seeing an actual alien ship quickly followed by the realization that it's neither a pristine nor truly impressive visual example of xenotechnology.
Bishop sends Chig a "happy" emotion on the egg and then notices that Jillian has passed out, likely from the sensations caused by the Iof's jump. Thanks to the lack of artificial gravity here she hasn't fallen but is just hanging there, slightly drooling. The drool unfortunately floats. Rooting around in his bag Bishop finds a nasty piece of crapbark and brings her to in one of the most horrible ways possible. Once she's unhappily awake Bishop and Jillian head to the Steel Hummingbird to get on the comms there and talk to the Iof; the observatory's equipment is still largely shut down to keep the interaction with the Grob off of any official records.
Vob is the spokesgrob for the Iof and expresses their displeasure at the Steel Hummingbird's new paint job. Why is it so ugly now? Jillian feels like she can't win when it comes to her art and focuses instead on getting the Iof connected to the Eggen; like the Resplendent Dragon and Steel Hummingbird the Iof is too large to fit into the internal landing bay and with both external docking ports used the Iof has to connect indirectly via the Hummingbird.
Once the two ships are connected three of the Grob come aboard the Hummingbird: Chig, Ensig, and Vob. Chig is still wearing the hat that Bishop gave as a gift, though it's large enough to come down to the alien's shoulders and eyeholes have been cut in it. Ensig has what looks like some sort of firearm casually slung over the shoulder. On the human side Bishop is wearing his best suit and the crown the Grob gave him, Jillian wearing her usual outfit of black cargo pants and a tight black t-shirt with three-quarter length sleeves.
Bishop gives the Grob a tour of the new interior and they're not impressed. They find the passenger quarters too large and empty to be comfortable and the general lack of art in most of the ship is likewise a disappointment.
Not wanting to hear any more negative comments about her beloved ship Jillian hustles the Grobs along and the aliens are soon in the Eggen Observatory proper and are, not surprisingly, a hit. The staff can't believe that they're lucky enough to meet actual aliens and despite the difficulties in communications it turns into a social event. While that's going on Malcolm is in the galley putting the finishing touches on a micro-g tea maker, the construction of which he has had some experience with.
Down in the engine room Jörg and Volkova get the space drive up and running. With the new parts that Volkova's supplied it will hopefully last longer before its next breakdown than usual. They give a warning to the rest of the station before firing it up and soon gravity is restored. Most everyone is prepared -- Roberta Kirshner especially so with her magnetic outfit -- but Jillian loses her balance and falls, though at least this time it's not from a dizzy spell! Neet lands gracefully and seems wistful about the previous weightless conditions. In the galley Malcolm's gravity-independent tea brewer tips and he's slightly burned by sloshing hot tea, like a sudden slap from a dear lover.
As Jörg and Volkova head up to join everyone else he unexpectedly asks her if she's seeing anyone. She isn't and decides that is interested in getting to know him better: they're both smart, have similar employment and interests, and come from the same system. If they have some time before the Hummingbird jumps to Olberman they agree to give dinner a try and see what happens.
When they emerge on the main deck a party is underway. Kieran has come up with some surprisingly good bottles of scotch and wine that he's been saving for a special occasion -- if this isn't special what is? -- and everyone but the Grob are having some. Malcolm is sharing his "zero-g tea", also not with the Grob, and showing off his technical virtuosity, something that he rarely gets to do.
Claudia persistently hits on Bishop and he keeps trying to brush her off, trying to convince her that he's already got someone and is monogamous. It's quite a stretch but he eventually pulls it off.
During the party the Grob seem to have preferences. Both Chig and Vob tend to stay close to Bishop, while Ensig and Olivia seem to have struck up a sort of friendship that Jillian thinks is based around a love of weapons. Group photos are taken in the cargo bay with everyone present; Volkova insists in being in the bipedal loader.
Eventually it's time to stop socializing and get to work before anyone gets too drunk, with the exception of Kieran, who's well and truly sotted but thankfully not terribly needed. He's left to sing to himself in the thankfully largely soundproof galley.
The Grob begin working out the calculations for the jump. There is one of the crew, Padb, who does most of the calculations. Although the "brain" of the Iof would be a huge help the Grob are extremely reluctant to use it. Jillian makes a feeble attempt to help, but not sharing a language, not knowing the different type of calculations needed for jumping, and not even knowing the notation or instruments used to make the calculations means that she's better off helping elsewhere. The Eggen has a computer of its own but it would take much longer to work out what to calculate and write out the program than it would be for Padb to just do the calculations. The calculations are made far more complicated by having two more ships attached to the Iof and working out this additional difficulty will take well into the next day, so everyone will have some time to do what they will.
There is an attempt to share information about the system between Eggen and the Iof that goes nowhere. Major language and notational issues aside, it's not even sure that they're interested in vaguely the same things and the Iof are coy about sharing data.
Bishop spends more time with Chig and Vob, trying to improve his grasp on the Grob language. Once he and Chig can communicate properly they'll be able to really share information about the Dreaming.
Neet, Olivia, and Xao firmly attach the three ships together for the jump. They work well as a team, have salvaging equipment whose manipulators help a fair bit, and have done this before. Although they don't need any help Jillian and Malcolm assist as best they can to see how the process works out. Neet is impressively nimble in micro-g even with an EVA suit on. When the ships are finally attached and everyone else has repaired inside he spends some time outside on his own drifting in space, something that doesn't surprise his shipmates.
Volkova lugs some more spare parts to the Eggen to replace many of the bits of the space drive that look likely to give out soon and then spends the rest of the evening with Jörg. As it turns out they get along extremely well even when not working on space drives. Both acknowledge that this may be the one time that they ever get to spend some time together given their different lives, but hope that this won't be the case. They spend the night together in one of the passenger compartments of the Hummingbird.
Happily, Jörg and Volkova get to spend some more time together the next day while the calculations drag on. Jillian keeps working on painting the cargo hold, wondering if it's possible to make artwork that appeals to both Grob and humans.
When Bishop is asked by Robert Kirshner if the Grob are willing to have the Iof be scanned by the observatory's equipment to make finding other D'vor ships easier he brings the matter to them and they refuse, not wanting "bad humans" to get the sort of data that could easily be used against them. He's also fearful that someone like Hoax will get the information and doesn't bother to try to change their minds. Jillian ends up getting dragged into it, finally managing to sway the Iof's crew by forcibly arguing that the Eggen's staff should be put into the "good human" category..
The calculations finally made, it's time to say goodbye to the starstruck Eggen staff and make the jump to Olberman. The Resplendent Dragon and Steel Hummingbird's crews are firmly strapped in to make sure that they're not injured if the jump isn't smooth. The last to strap herself in, Volkova makes sure to give Jörg a messy goodbye kiss in front of Bishop. The young uBuntan is horrified at the lurid display of wrinkly flesh in front of him but there's little that he can do other than close his eyes until the elderly lovers are done.
When the jump is finally made Malcolm and Volkova finally get to join the Jump Club. The experience seems to be too much for Jillian, who worryingly passes out again. After Bishop is unsnapped and while Volkova is getting Malcolm out of his harness Bishop sees to his captain and brings her back to consciousness by trying something new, hoping that this new substance will help her new symptoms. It works, and Jillian wakes to find that -- amazingly and to her great dismay -- there is something in the universe that tastes worse than crapbark. Far worse.
----------
Bishop's Bedpost Notch Count: 0 (running total: 13)
Volkova's Bedpost Notch Count: 1 (running total: 2)