so, where is the Duke, anyway? (part CLI)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part CL.)

Emilly was carefully layering extracted samples into a gas spectrometer in the fringe lab when the comm pinged. Zack's cheerfully aggrieved voice came over the wire.

"Why is it always when I am away that I miss all the fun?" He chuckles to himself, and she grins.



"Oh, I don't think the crash counted as fun!" she commented, and heard Justine's voice on the line.

"Well, it was exciting!"

Emilly snorted, remembering a report she'd read earlier, where their court bard had gotten wedged in a fold of the evac pod waiting for the shuttle. "Especially for Rusty," she said, "who nearly smothered in sand!"

She heard Zack chuckle. "You're not helping."

Justine tsked. "Not helping is kind of my thing!"

"Mm," said the Duchess, carefully capping the glass tube and setting it to extract. "So, I had another reason to check into that area. For some reason, we have a 'ghost' of the Dark Sea. It's not ours, we're trying to figure out what's happening."

"What?"

"I decided to swim down to check the division line, to see if it was just a map ghost, or if the land actually existed? I got shot at."



Silence on the comm. The Duchess tilted her head up, considering.

"So...something is down there," she finally said.



"Argh," said Zack softly. "Ghosts are in the field of--shamanism. Not my specialty."

There was another pause, then the soft tone that announced official communication from the court. It was Justine's voice.

"All Duchy Citizens, we will be assembling on the command deck of Tannhauser Gate at 2pm SLT to go over a plan for retrieval of cargo from crashed freighter 'The One With "Bad [M*therf*cker]" On It'."



Another citizen of the realm laughed on the line. "Naughty freighter," said Kara

She sighed, smiling. She tended to agree.

"The Duchy ships are sentient," Justine said, "and choose their own names."

Emilly nodded, though she was alone in the lab. "I'll be there, though I'll likely have to change."



"I might have to make a trip to Graves for a better suit of armor for this," Justine added.

"You look fine, Emilly," added Kara.

She snorted again, looking down. She'd come directly to the fringe lab from ground level, where she'd been testing the new pool. "Bikini bottoms and a beach dress to go retrieve something from the Dark Sea? I mean..."

Kara giggled. Another bard of the court, Violet, laughed. "Emilly, if you're doing it, I believe it."

She heard Thomas chime in. "I'm in a pretty heavy rig with a VRF six barrel over each shoulder."

She hmmed, pulling out an evac suit she'd found for cheap at some event, slipping into it. She looked down at the way the molded chest arched far enough away from her torso to pretty much leave her naked. "This spacesuit's built for Kupra. I cannot wear this in public," she murmured.

"Cyberfactory?" Justine asked. "They keep doing that."

She tsked, slipping out of it and continuing to search.

"I got a great set of armour for Chief Briggs from Graves. I think we all need it."



Emilly nodded, finally slipping on a dress. It was at least more clothing than the bikini, and it would work for the meeting. "We might!" she added.

"Where is everyone?" asked Thomas.

"Everyone assemble in the briefing room on deck 2 Northwest," said Justine.

The Duchess checked the time. Just a few minutes before two.

(Continued in part CLII.)