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1641

Karibi slipped one of the rosettes into an inside pocket on his robe, and added his own question.
"What are we looking at, in terms of the vessel's captain and crew? Does the captain have a known record for smuggling, or did this incident seem to come completely out of the blue?"

1640-1641 Day One:

+++The Vultures Gizzard is the ships name, her Captain has had some minor smuggling charges, gladstones and the like. The Gizzard stopped at Iocanthos two years ago.+++

1641
"Named for a carrion bird, how appropriate. Two years is a long time. In a busy port like Spectoris there will be few people who might recall the ship after this time."

1641

"Quite right." Karibi added, nodding. "Unless the captain has made a name for himself in the area, it's highly unlikely that one non-descript bulk freighter would be considered worth remembering when the region probably sees hundreds of such vessels pass through."

1641, Day One

"A 'gizzard' is a carrion bird? Interesting," Trask said quietly. "Anyway... agreed. This seems to require deeper digging than merely canvassing the locals. And somehow I doubt that the mighty Imperial Navy will apprehend and hand over the ship we seek. So, the sooner we're off to Spectoris, the better."

1641

"Actually a vulture is," Phebia said. "That is inconsequential however, you're right. The sooner we are to Spectoris the better. The trail is cold, we shouldn't let it grow colder. When we arrive we will need to investigate thoroughly but quickly. Were the inquiries of the Port Master made officially or covertly?"

1641 Day One:

+++Covertly.+++

1641, Day One

"Well, that's a help, at least," Trask said in response to Arl's answer. "Any ideas for a cover story?"

1642

Phebia frowned slightly at the answer. "Since quiet inquiries have not turned up any leads from the Port Master perhaps something more official might? Given the passage of time I would suspect the only reliable information we are going to get on Spectoris would be from the Port Master and his records." Phebia paused to consider her words. "Then again can we discount the possibility of these Slaught creatures having confederates on Spectoris? Another coven of locals helping them?"

1642, Day One

"An official showing may help scare a few people into recovering their memories," Trask said thoughtfully, "but there's a flipside. It might drive involved parties further to ground, as well."

1642

"Possibly, but what if some of us are already there, waiting for them. We could even use the official inquiry to apprehend one of us and help to prove the rest of our loyalties to anyone trying to hide."

1643, Day One

Trask sipped his recaf pensively. After a moment he replied, "Impressive, Sister. Not a bad idea at all. A decent way to both begin an inquiry, as well as gain the trust of some parties of interest. Who, then, of us should be our 'detainee?'" I could probably pass for an enforcer; you, certainly, look like the very height of an Imperial servant."

1643

"That I do not know. I will not serve well as an infiltrator, neither will the priestess I believe. You, Marco, Enrick, and perhaps our new member would likely be able. I would suggest Enrick as he is not subtle, but his skills might be needed by the infiltrators should the situation degenerate. I would not suggest Marco as his analytical mind would be best at work in the field. To be frank I do not know of a disposable member of our team who we could afford to be without the services of for the duration of our stay on Spectoris. Perhaps a member of the crew or instead maybe a particularly spirited attempt to apprehend the infiltrators?"

1643

"Could we trust such a person not to give the game away, however?" Marco chimed in. "I'm not sure I'd trust anyone outside of our group to be placed in a position where he could easily set up a fatal trap for us all." He paused, taking a sip from his mug, then continued.

"In any case, it may all be irrelevant. I think we're all missing the big pink megatherium in the room here. What possible reason would the real culprits have for accepting such a plant? If word reaches them that an innocent person has been detained on suspicion of perpetrating their crimes, then they're far more likely to just shrug and lie low for a while, content that someone else has taken the blame and that they've gotten away with it all.
And even aside from all that, these people are not stupid. They've been in the xenos smuggling business for at the very least two years - probably far longer - and have been cunning enough to evade detection in all that time. I doubt joining them is as simple a matter as just sending in a curriculum vitae to their human resources manager."

1643

"There will be no word getting back of an innocent being detained. I will be detaining them somewhere safe. The local constabulary will not be involved at all in the detainment."