Excavation Mission Part 3 Crew Review

Crew Review

Tamaris asked, "Where is Rajara?"

"Khwairif, ma’am, she’s reviewing some of the seismic data, see if there is something else to find. I’ve saved her some sand squid ink."

"That’s kind of you, Linus."

"How are the rest of you holding up?"

"Good, kind of fun to have something to do besides just operate the ship."

"Anything to get a break from operating the excavator for 8 hours straight."

"Including handling a corpse and bloody crime scene remains with the pretty pathologist lady?" chided Salma.

"That was not made out of awesome, but I am never going to get lifted above laborer if I don’t expand. I don’t think I am cut out for crime scene evidence retrieval and victim pathology. Doctor Aristides is a beautiful woman, but I don’t think I impressed her by vomiting in the examination room."

"There’s that."

"Twice."

After the laughter died down, Gallimaufry asked, "The Toink Girl still loves you, no?"

"She’s cooled on me since that Tsathaggua incidence a while back. But if it is meant to be."

"Pfah! In the meantime you sniff around the pathologist lady?"

"I’m not creeping. They are nice ladies."

"You don’t save sand squid ink for me when I am working late."

"It’s the Rajara’s favorite. I have a delicate stomach, I am just giving her mine. I am hoping she’ll intern me. Processing geological data is more my speed than weighing viscera. I learned how to read the topo’s for the excavator."

"You don’t save me sand squid ink because I have limited career prospects for you?"

"Don’t take offense, Galli, I am not called up to the big ship often, I should try to make the most of it. You want my ant egg tapioca? It’s buttery."

"How are you supposed to serve on the big ship if you can’t stomach the food?"

"I am trying, but I really overdid it on Gagh Taco Tuesday."

"The trick is to crush them between your teeth, don’t swallow them whole."

"Thank you, Khwairif, ma’am."

"If you really want an internship, I can speak to Mister Tevya or Professor Serendipity at Weyland."

"I am ready to step up. Thank you, Khwairif, ma’am."

"Which of you got the job of encasing the doorway in Energon?"

Nanyi raised his hand, "That would be me. I had to listen to those two Weyland Primadonna’s whine and carry on. Waste of time.”

"Okay, anything substansive to their complaints?"

"I can’t tell, they worry you might back out on the contract due to the danger presented by the doorway and you might think you are the only one that can keep it stored safely. Weyland has a spotty safety record."

"I was not planning on keeping them from the doorway, but that does not stop people from being paranoid. I made someone really angry this week chiding them that their civil war was likely a media hoax, they accused me of doing that before. I have no such recollection. Hate makes people stupid, and apparently delusional as well. I insulted them, as is traditional, and returned to work and here I am. Why do you think it’s a waste of time?"

"With respects, Khwairif, we three, four is you count the Rajara have more experience with found exsanguinated corpses than those Weyland kids."

"I wouldn’t be so sure about the numbers, but I will acknowledge your expertise. Which leads me to …and sooooo.”

"Doctor Aristides collected a quantity of blood, but less than what would have been in a near baseline human body."

"Nanyi, I am an astrophysicist, you need to spell this out for me."

"If they collected viscera and blood from the corpse, then they already got what they needed. We’re a day late. I don’t think anything new is likely to happen with the doorway. You need to concentrate on where those cultists went to and what their objective is. A good first start would be where they got the body from."

"There is only a couple hundred people on the planet, mostly scientists, engineers, and support techs like Linus."

"Hear that? I’m a tech."

"Support tech."

"Sound better on my resume than excavator operator."

"You got the autopsy report yet? Was the body alive or dead when they eviscerated and exsanguinated her. Her, yes?"

"Yes, her. She was alive."

"Well, your stratospheric sensor grid is up and running, any mass greater than 1 kilogram passing thru the stratosphere is going to register, no one is smuggling a ship onto this rock. Either one of those scientists, engineers, or support techs smuggled in the body when she was still alive. Probably recently. Check all recent departures and arrivals. Maybe a week. Hard to keep a living human sacrifice around for long, so they probably came recently."

"I will check the records."

"We can track them down for you. Usual terms."

"We already have the RAC under contract for just such a situation. If you want to tag along, I can arrange that. Otherwise, usual terms. But you have to be a team player."

"Naturally. Who’s going to operate your ship while the three of us are gone?"

"Three of you?"

"Me, Sonya, and Gallimaufry. Usual terms."

"Good grief, let me call for some temps. The RAC will be here in three days, do whatever ground work here until then."

"I would like some kind of official authorization. Can we take Linus with us?"

"Sure. Linus, you’re interning with Naydi. Play nice."

"Does that mean I have to give you my sandsquid ink?"

"Keep it for Rajara."