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[kropotkin41]

Arrago and Stettler find themselves the first off the ship's boat and looking down the quayside in the direction the two Zhodani's passed. The crowd consists largely of stevedores and crew members from the numerous other vessels in the starport; droids and freight-handlers move relatively small cargoes carefully amongst the passers-by. Some fifty metres away the two Zho appear to be in conversation with a much more Solomani-looking human.

[Ghost]

Without a word, Stettler began wandering down the quay in the direction of the Zhodani and the Solomani; could they really be lucky enough to find the right people right away? If the fellow the Zho were talking to sounded like he might be of Vilis origin, chances were they were on the right track. They needed to get close enough to hear the trio talk, however. Knowing the Zhodani psionic power, it was quite possible that the most important info was not actually spoken out loud, but Stettler would have to keep an eye on the man's face; perhaps his reactions would belie the fact that the spoken word was not the most important part of their conversation....

[kropotkin41]

Coming within easy earshot is not so easy on a crowded quayside, but once Stettler can hear snippets of the conversation between the two Zhos and their interlocutor, it seems that a straightforward commercial discussion is taking place:

'I am instructed to provision both Consulate ships' the more talkative of the two Zhodanis is saying, 'but I will not be paying for anything sight-unseen, and nor will I be content to buy processed foods.'

The trader nods with enthusiastic understanding: 'That will not be a problem; no problem at all. I can supply freshly frozen, dried and vacuum-packed ingredients to fill your needs. I am sure that you know I have dealt with ships from the Consulate before.'

'We came to you precisely for that reason Trader Pung. Nonetheless, we would want to inspect all goods prior to purchase, and we would like to see a full price list now if that can be arranged.'

The two Zhodani are well, if exotically dressed, and the one who is talking has a strong foreign accent, nasal and high-pitched, when he speaks Galanglic.

From immediately behind Stettler comes a whispered voice, it is Jones: 'Why don't you just hold a sign up with "I am watching you" written on it?'

Edited by kropotkin41, 07 April 2011 - 07:41 PM.

[Ghost]

Stettler turned around at the whisper, not recognizing Jones' voice right away. When he saw who it was, he made a face, and answered in a calm voice: "Ah, there you are. Splendid. Give me a moment?" He then typed in a message and texted Jones, with the following: 'Because that would be conspicuous - much like conspiratorical whispering does. Now, can you make out if they are just talking?'

[shadowofdeath]

Arrago sees the doctor having a nice chat and decides now would be a good time to get closer to the Zhodani, he looks around the quayside for a few small crates and promptly begins moving them one at a time between two random locations. making sure he looked confidently away from the Zhodani as he passed them.

[kropotkin41]

Arrago begins moving some crates around and gets a good look at the Zhodani: it is clear that the one who is not talking is armed - he is carrying some kind of pistol that shows as a bulge through his wrapped-around robe. Arrago has the distinct impression that the one who is talking is perhaps a junior officer, diplomat or official, and the other is security for him.

'I don't do texts' Jones says quietly to Stettler - a note of amusement in his voice, 'and I can't do that unless you want me to become a presence in the room. For what it's worth, the other guy might well have a certain low level awareness of the quay running all the time; a sort of constant environment check if you like.'

Just at that moment a freight-bot - about a metre high and the same wide; a sort of low-AI freight-truck - arrives and confronts Arrago at the pile of crates; a little red light flashes confusedly on its dome-like head and a metallic voice states quite clearly in Galanglic 'Please do not move this freight, it is under the charge of Quare Freight Services.'

A few passers-by glance in Arrago's direction; apparently the Zho's are not at all interested.

Edited by kropotkin41, 08 April 2011 - 02:59 PM.

[Ghost]

Simply nodding at Jones' words, Stettler looked around the quay, glanced over at Arrago and the droid, while he kept his ears peeled for the rest of the conversation; did the Solomani have a telltale accent, that could place him somewhere? What sort of a name was 'Pung'? Did they mention any destinations, numbers or general facts that might help either implicate or 'exonerate' them? If not, perhpas they ought to leave the two alone for the nonce; walking around spying on Zhodanis just because they were Zhodanis felt a little... wrong; it was important to keep in mind that it was not likely ALL of the Zho were involved in the sort of behaviour that Stettler found so reprehensible.

[kropotkin41]

The Solomani (one of the three main branches of humaniti...) accent corresponds to many of those that Stettler has heard since arriving in this system, it could best be described as having the twang of the Spinward frontier and then some!

Pung would, like very many if not most Solomani surnames, have its origins on Ancient Terra, that is just about as precise as Stettler's (good) general knowledge can get him.

The Zhodani who is talking mentions no destinations, only that there are clearly two, judging by the quantities of supplies being discussed, quite large Zhodani ships in port.

[shadowofdeath]

Arrago just shrugged and replaced the crate, he approached the doctor and said "this is boring, shall we go see if we can spot the Zho ships" in a hushed voice

[kropotkin41]

Soon enough in fact the Zhodani seem to finish their negotiations with Trader Pung and take their leave. On the hunch that they might be on their way back to their ships, you follow them at a discrete distance, taking in the sights and sounds of the quayside as you go. Osman Jones tags along, pausing to buy himself a greasy looking snack and then jogging to catch up moments later.

You pass through a bustling commercial dock where at times you are in serious danger of being run over by huge freight-handling trucks, but no-one seems inclined to chase you away; modular cutters are being loaded all the time, presumably to take payloads up to the freighters in orbit over this desolate industrial rock-ball.

Eventually you see two ships which closely resemble images of Zhodani Consulate vessels you have seen in holo-vids and library data. They are sleek, around the size of Imperial far traders, perhaps a little larger, they are apparently only lightly armed, a couple of turrets visible on each, and give the appearance of being trading or diplomatic ships rather than warships. Nonetheless, on the quayside near the ships there are two figures who look suspiciously like marines, armed and armoured, definitely Zhodani military.

[Ghost]

"Rather intimidatinglooking vessels, I say," Stettler noted. "Not so much despite it lack of weaponry as because of. It seems to say 'We don't need weapons to make things very dificult for you'. Also, quite a number of shall we say 'passengers' could fit in there, and not find their way back out in a hurry. We ought to find the slavers on that rig and figure out where they send the slaves. I'll be happy if the destination is not one of those ships there..."

[shadowofdeath]

Arrago only nodded, his hand drifted to twin loops on his belt and he silently wished that he had remembered his shotgun.

[kropotkin41]

The two Zhodanis you followed to come here go aboard and there is no other activity in the minutes that follow. The security personnel stay on the quayside, but there is enough traffic here that your presence doesn't seem to arouse any suspicion.

'I think that it would be a good idea to move along now' Jones says, 'unless the plan is to go aboard and ask them some questions directly.'

....it has to be said that Jones seems to be in very good humour......

[Ghost]

The ships weren't talking. "No, I say we leave them to their own devices," Stettler said, looking the two ships over for any identifying markings, so he might recognize them later. Then he turned around and looked over the bustle of the quay. "Back on theship you mentioned you had some business to take care of here, Mister Martinez. Something we can do to assist you?"

[shadowofdeath]

Arrago chuckled and said "It's unofficial business, I met a woman in a bar and I thought I might drop by to say hello while I'm in Quare."