I'd slept well after we had entered jumpspace. The comfort of a real bed in my room, albeit a functional rather than luxurious one, compared to the single seat in the submarine was a joy. I felt refreshed and ready to hit the metaphorical books once more and with the aid of the new computer ploughed through lectures, papers, and tutorials on astrogation techniques.

A thread kept popping into my mind during the day, however, as I kept wondering if I had missed an opportunity on Moughas, with Seadragon Transport. They were generous with their prices for cargo, yet I felt as though I should have talked to them about other types of work that was available alongside trading. I had heard of other reputable merchant ships taking on small jobs: delivering specialised cargo or personages; providing site reports on waystations or fuel dumps on their way; searching for missing ships, cargo, or even people; and rescuing those injured or in need of help, much like we had done so with Oran, from Seadragon's "The Snow Hill" submarine.

Towards the end of the day, however, I had to shake the thoughts from my mind and get ready for the Captain's Dinner once more. Annie and I had agreed that a few drinks first, as last time, was the way to go, so I joined the crew and the passengers in the lounge at the designated time.

Only the high passengers were present for the dinner, despite the two middle passengers we had on board. Annie has assured me that the expectations of the high were that they had paid extra for the privilege and would not be happy with having to share the meal with those from middle that had paid less. It seemed a little old-fashioned to me, but Annie knew what she was doing.

Over the drinks we made a little small talk, before sitting down and feasting ourselves on the food that Annie had prepared.

Over drinks I began my conversations with Alfiera and Sonnhild and asked them a little about Moughas and then of Wochiers, asking if either of them were native of the unusual planet. Alfiera appeared to be a drifter across the Spinward Marches, having been to many of the planets in this sector of space and even beyond. Unfortunately for us, however, Alfiera was heading towards Rethe and not towards Yurst where I was thinking of taking the Kalitá after Wochiers.

Sonnhild, though, was a native of Wochiers and was heading back to her homeworld as she would soon be coming a proud parent. She wanted the child to be born on Wochiers as she had been, and told me about the crystal growing in the heavy atmosphere and the vast mountain ranges with caverns and tunnels that helped house the populace in a reasonable level of comfort. Most people on the planet had some sort of hand in the crystal growing, mining or transportation, and considering there were three quarters of a billion people living there, it was evident how large the crystal business was. I hoped I hadn't made a mistake with the small cargo of crystals I had bought on Moughas and I wouldn't be able to sell.

I gradually eased my way away from Alfiera and Sonnhild and poured a drink for Ervisa, who I had a fair amount in common with due to her profession. Ervisa was on her way to Wochiers from Moughas to set up a trade agreement. I asked if this was with Seadragon, but she shook her head. She knew very well of Seadragon, but was not part of that company and was elegantly elusive when I tried to pry into what company she was from. She did let me know that she was not dealing in the crystals market, though.

When I came round to talk with Hagar — who Otto seemed keen to get away from, exhausted by the stories she had been telling him — things took another strange turn. I'm not even sure what I mentioned, or in what context, but Hagar went from pleasant to exasperated in mere moments. It was obvious that she was in some sort of emotional turmoil and myself and Annie made sure that she took a seat and we tried to calm her down. Even as we tried she began to sob in huge heaves and needed to remove her contact lenses. As she did so it became apparent to us that Hagar was not of the Solomani or Vilani stock as her huge irises, the blackness nearly filling her entire eye, stood her out as another species.

We were more concerned with calming Hagar down and finding out what was wrong, rather than speculating about her origins, though some of the other passengers were taking an interest and discussing amongst themselves.

It was Sonnhild who let us know Hagar's heritage, she was an Ayansh'i, a minor human race. Ghost, the system the Ayansh'i were from, however, was the other side of the Great Rift, over a hundred parsecs away so it was incredible that she was here in the Marches.

It wasn't long before Annie managed to gradually calm Hagar down so we could get some sort of sense out of her. Her anxiety and grief were replaced by ire, though, and she began a blistering attack on one of the middle passengers, Erwien McClure and the vitriol seemed to be connected with something about Hagar's sister. It was still confusing for us and we could not make sense of what Hagar was trying to tell us. Once she was calmer, Hagar apologised for her outbursts and excused herself from the dinner, stating that she would spend the night composing herself and let us know of her predicament in the morning.

After that the meal was quiet and a little sombre. The rest of the passengers and the crew did their best to enjoy the food and company yet I could tell that everyone was both intrigued and a little wary of Hagar's story. We finished the meal and gradually everyone turned in for the night. Like myself, I think everyone was keen to get to sleep and then have the chance of finding out the rest of Hagar's tale in the morning.

#0001 — 043-1106 @ 1100 to 043-1106 @ 2300 IST Ω

Annie had spent some time with Hagar in the morning to reassure her that we were all here just to help and that we would do what we could to try and resolve any problems she had. When Annie came to me to report what she had managed to find out it became apparent that Hagar was not upset directly with Erwien, but rather with the company that Erwien worked for, a company called Phoenix Enterprises.

The story that had unfolded was that Hagar and her sister, Merinda, had been participating in research into genetics at a research station at Vanejen (Spinward Marches/Rhylanor/3119). Ayansh'i, as Hagar described, had an abnormally high rate of identical births within their population, herself and her sister were identical. Hagar and Merinda were part of a study that had six or seven months left to go when a representative from Phoenix Enterprises, a private and independent research group, came to Vanejen seeking volunteers for some further research. Merinda was happy to take part — the money on offer was good — but Hagar was less impressed, and was keen on returning to Ghost once their time at Vanejen was over. The two had had a minor falling out and Merinda had left with the Phoenix representatives, whilst Hagar sat out her remaining time at Vanejen.

This was not the full cause of Hagar's distress, however. A couple of months ago Hagar had felt "something". She wouldn't explain it, maybe couldn't explain it, but knew that her sister was not well. She was not dead, Hagar was certain of that, but there was something badly wrong. At first, she had try to find some way of communicating with Phoenix Enterprises, but to no avail, so she took it upon herself to head to Wochiers, where she knew the research centre to be. Then, out of chance, on the final leg of her journey she had seen Erwien, an employee of Phoenix, or at least she assumed so by the firebird pin on his lapel that she had spotted. Her emotions had gotten the better of her after that.

My suggestion to Annie was that we arranged a meeting with Hagar and Erwien, with us as mediators, to see if there was anything Erwien knew or could do to help. Annie said she would go and see both and try to make it happen.

Erwien was quick to agree and made himself ready immediately. We used the passenger lounge, asking the other passengers politely to remain in their staterooms to give some element of privacy, and Erwien sat waiting and ready at the table with his hand computer and briefcase with him. As Hagar has noted, he wore a smart suit with a pin on his lapel in the shape of a phoenix. Hagar's suspicions were correct, as the computer that he had fired up had Phoenix Enterprises LIC embossed on the side.

Hagar was a little slower to arrive, composing herself. Annie introduced the pair to each other and to our surprise it was Erwien who led the conversation. He too was on his way to Wochiers to look into something for Phoenix Enterprises. He had worked for the company for the last few years, based mainly out of Regina, though had travelled a little to some of the various research centres they had. He asked us to keep the matter at hand in confidence and would tell us more information if we signed a waiver, both myself as captain on behalf of the crew of the Kalitá and one for Hagar. He span the computer around to both of us.

Hagar took some time to read the waiver, but eventually entered her digital signature. I took a little longer to read it thoroughly to make sure I wasn't making any mistakes.

There was a fair amount of smallprint, but I was confident that I was not opening myself or the crew up to any issues and did as Hagar had done and signed the form.

Erwien began by apologising to Hagar for any distress that had been caused, but stated that he was just as much in the dark as Hagar was. He went on to state that the research lab on Wochiers had not made its standard report and regular check-ins for the last nine weeks, which tied in with Hagar's "feeling". He was en route to Wochiers to see if he could contact the lab from on the planet, though as the facility was sensitive in nature and a well-guarded secret in its location, he knew that if he could not find his contact at the downport it would be a mighty task for him, and perhaps, even, that we could help.

Surprisingly, then, he seemed to make us an offer. "Us" being the crew of the Kalitá and Hagar together. It took me a little by surprise.

The offer was fairly simple. He asked if we would take ground transport from the downport to the research lab, with co-ordinates of the lab being provided once we were on our way. There, we would investigate why the lab had missed its check-ins and reports. The lab had eleven staff, including researchers, subjects and a lead scientist and we would need to make every effort to ensure they were safe and recovered back to the downport if required. The lead scientist was in particular of paramount importance and Erwien also assured Hagar that her sister was very important too.

Erwien did finish this offer, however, with a reinforcement of the sensitivity of the research, and that the very existence of the lab should not become public knowledge. We would be authorised to destroy the lab, the contents, and any records if we found the lab compromised in any way.

There would be remuneration for the action and when Erwien started discussing the amounts I was quite surprised. For each of us, the four of us on the crew, plus Hagar, he was authorised to pay us Cr25,000. Each. On top of that he would add Cr10,000 for every staff member safely recovered and a higher value of Cr25,000 for the lead scientist.

Hagar agreed almost immediately, her passion to find her sister showing through. I, however, was a little more reluctant. This was very new to me, and although some of the crew, such as Otto, had experience of "missions" and what sounded like dangerous work, I couldn't immediately sign the crew over to such a venture without us discussing first.

With a measured reply I told Erwien that I would think about it and get advice from my crew. We were only the first day into the jump and no-one was going anywhere. We would take a day or two to discuss and make a decision between us. Hagar looked a little disappointed, but Erwien nodded and agreed with my action.

We finished our meeting, with Hagar more on an even keel, and left the lounge.

I headed down to the bridge and invited the whole crew to join me. Annie and I gave Otto and James a brief on what had happened and the offer from Phoenix Enterprises through Erwien. I asked them not to make any decisions, yet, but sleep on the information and we would decide as a group together what we were going to do. The money was a large amount, but I couldn't help feeling that there was a fair element of risk.

#0002 — 044-1106 @ 1100 to 044-1106 @ 1600 IST Ω

The whole crew were up early in the morning and hung around near the common area trying to look busy and disinterested, but I could they were all ready to give their opinion on whether we should take the offer given to use by Erwien on behalf of Phoenix. When Annie gave me the nod that all of the passengers were happy and she would have a good half hour, barring any emergencies, we sat down at the small table and discussed what was on offer. I opened up the table to a vote, to see which way we would decide.

I was unsure about the proposition. I had no training or experience in any of the facets of the offer. I knew nothing about traversing the wilds of a strange planet, nor investigating and rescuing people. Though James did remind me, we had rescued the sailor on Moughas. My vote was a "no".

Annie went straight for a "yes" and semed very enthusiastic about it. It had sparked the rebellious spirit in her, I think, and the chance to do something other than wait hand and foot on the passengers, despite the chance of risk. The payout was also half a year's salary which she was not ashamed to say was a contributing factor.

Otto and James were also both keen. I had thought Otto would say "yes", he had the training and experience of action, or so at least I thought. James, however, surprised me. I thought he would be more reluctant, especially considering the injury he sustained in the slip and crash agains "The Snow Hill" on Moughas. However, he declared a big "yes" with the knowledge that the mission would likely involve a visit to a genetics research station, where he was sure he would find some fascinating research.

Everyone looked at me at the end, hoping I would change my mind, but I stayed steadfast. The risks were too high I decalred. Their persistence, however, wore me down somewhat and I conceeded to change my vote to a "yes" and proceed with the mission if, and only if, Phoenix agreed to sign the paperwork stating they would pay for any medical expenses incurred after closure and front up at least ten percent of the fee to allow us to purchase any equipment we needed to keep us safe. It sounded a little bureaucratic, but felt it was at least some way to keep us safe.

With nods all round the agreement was made and now it was just the chance of convincing Erwien of our new demands.

James offered to negotiate on our behalf, his art in diplomacy, we believed, would be our best shot of convincing Erwien to change the terms of the deal. With our plans and demands agreed between ourselves, we let James loose.

We waited impatiently for the next few hours, trying our best to continue our studies or complete jobs around the Kalitá. James was quite a while and I was sure that he wasn't getting very far, but when he appeared back in the common area he was all smiles. Erwien had agreed to our demands. Just. He was drafting up the contract which would include everything we had asked for. James had actually tried for a larger cut, but Erwien did not agree to that. We congratulated James and then the realism hit me that we had to get prepared for a potentially dangerous mission.

I told everyone to get a good rest, sleep well, and then we would begin to find information, make plans, and get ready for when we arrived at Wochiers.

#0003 — 045-1106 @ 1100 to 045-1106 @ 1900 IST Ω