Seven(?) against the Convergence

[Drusia]

"Where does he mean? Where does he think I'm from?"

Rose tells me that he thinks I'm from somewhere in Veracia, possibly from Saus but nothing more specific than that. Hm. I suppose that's okay. Rose reassures me that she'd never compromise my homeland. I didn't really think she would, it was just that her comment kinda threw me. As his comment threw her.

-- Desiree

OOC: I kept it all vague because I don't like putting words in other character's mouths, even if it's allowed.

[Graybeard]

[OOC: OK, back in full access later today. To get things rolling again:]

Sister Rose shook her head. "I wonder about Amalric," she said. "I told him nothing about where you're from, except that you're Veracian, which is true, after all. Yet he acted like he knew more than that already. I --"

She was interrupted at this point by a booming voice from up at the controls; Father Amalric's, obviously, amplified so that it could be heard all over the ship. "Sister Rose, Brother Timothy, report to the bridge." That was all. [OOC: Yes, I know that Tim had gone forward only minutes earlier to see if he was "needed." Assume he either hadn't got there yet, or was told that he wasn't needed, but Amalric changed his mind. /OOC:]

Rose rolled her eyes. "I hear and obey," she muttered, and started forward.

-------------

Therese waited a minute or so for the two Veracians to leave, and then moved to Desiree's side.

"I'm glad you're recovering," she said softly, "and I'm terribly sorry about Anfisa."

Well, only half of that was a lie...

[Alberich]

Tim hustled to make it the rest of the way, glad that his instinct had been right. He assumed Father Amalric wouldn't say anything until Rose arrived anyway. If he started complaining about how long she was taking, Tim would do what he could to allay his concerns, pointing out that she had helped to heal Desiree and had been in the midst of examining her patient.

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC Pretty sure Tim didn't visit Desiree Grey./OOC

"I'm glad you're recovering, and I'm terribly sorry about Anfisa."

"Me too." The kobold added after Therese's half truth. "Didn't get a chance to find her after the elfy person turned up. Think she's safe though, going to Sue... Zoo-rack... erm... Surackoo-shifty."

The Killikah tongue didn't have a word for 'third wheel', but she'd caught enough of a vibe from the tall red head to figure out her intentions towards the pretty half elf and feel a little awkward about her presence there. If things turned heavy (unlikely, given Desiree's current state both in health and in romance, but still...) she'd make her excuses and sidle out the door like a furry ninja.

[Drusia]

Sister Rose shook her head. "I wonder about Amalric," she said. "I told him nothing about where you're from, except that you're Veracian, which is true, after all. Yet he acted like he knew more than that already. I --"

Ugh, that is creepy. I don't like the idea of Amalric knowing anything at all about me - particularly things he shouldn't.

Therese waited a minute or so for the two Veracians to leave, and then moved to Desiree's side.
"I'm glad you're recovering," she said softly, "and I'm terribly sorry about Anfisa."

"Thanks," I reply, smiling a little. "Tamina did good work on me. And the others as well, but particularly her." I'm honestly not sure I could have done better, and healing is kind of my thing. Well, one of my things.

"As for Anfisa, I'm just glad to know she's safe," I tell Therese. "When I suggested rescuing her, I kind of thought she'd go where you sent other rescued getera, not follow us on this -" I wave my hand around at the Airship in general. "It was my fault she was in danger. My responsibility. I wanted to see her somewhere safe... and I guess I did, even if I didn't travel there with her. Not that I particularly wanted to travel into danger with Rose. I mean, I wouldn't mind, if only I was... useful. At all." I sigh. "I hate feeling like a burden to everyone."

And now I'm whining. Good job Desiree. Way to go.

-- Desiree

[Graybeard]

[OOC: OK, back in touch. It may take me a day or two to digest what has gone on back in the cabins, but there's certainly stuff starting to happen up forward. Meanwhile, if I do misconstrue action in the cabins, what follows can be easily retconned...]

Therese patted Desiree's hand and smiled gently. "Don't blame yourself. Yes, it might have been better -- safer -- if Anfisa had been spirited away to one of our sanctuary cities." She noted the look in Desiree's eyes at this statement; the term "sanctuary cities" sounded too much like "Santuariel" for a half elf's peace of mind, probably, so she elaborated. "There are several, including -- the one you're thinking of. I don't think she'd have fit well at that one, but at one of the others, maybe. But she chose her own path.

"Now as for you saying 'I hate feeling like a burden to everyone' --" her pat on Desiree's hand intensified slightly to a mild squeeze -- "rest assured, you don't feel like a burden to me. Far from it." The squeeze intensified further.

----------

Should I call Argus to hear what Amalric has to say? Sister Rose wondered as she went forward. I don't care whether Amalric wants him to or not, I'm the one in charge of this mission.

Diapers you are, another corner of her mind mocked.

In the event, Father Amalric was fixing her with a hard look as she came onto the bridge. "Do not bring your husband along," he ordered -- may as well call it what it was -- Rose. (Husband? she thought. He rather presumes ... or rather, I hope, anticipates ... but anyway ...) "This is a matter for members of the Church of Our Lord Luminosita, and no others. You will not speak to him of what I say." (But he didn't say anything about telepathy, she thought.)

As soon as the three were alone on the bridge, Amalric waved his hand and a damping field went up. "We are approaching our target," he said. ("Target"? thought Rose. Rather peculiar terminology, that...) "Certain preparations need to be made. Observe."

Another hand wave -- Rose was rapidly coming to believe that Amalric's magical capabilities were nearly on a par with Kitaura's, which was a sobering thought -- and an image of a three-dimensional map sprung into being, occupying most of the bridge. "The Tsuirakuans presume to keep their view of the world a state secret." He laughed mirthlessly. "Little do they know. Still, this is a capability that your Dr. Cleiviein does not need to know about. We are here." He pointed to a dot moving slowly across the increasingly rugged terrain of the Northern Confederacy. "Our target is here." He indicated a large, featureless area at the north edge of the map.

Rose was puzzled. "What do you mean? That space looks like it hasn't been mapped yet, by us or the Tsuirakuans or however. How do you know that that's where our -- target is?"

Amalric's glare was that of a professor lecturing a particularly stupid, if important, child. "I know because it has not been mapped. Someone has gone to considerable efforts to stop mapping teams from working there. The meaning is clear: those doing the mapping might stumble across something that they are not meant to see."

He lifted his eyes from the plot for a moment and stared off into the distance, and for a moment, Rose almost thought she could see the name "Melusine" on his lips. But probably not.

[Alberich]

Tim had his doubts as to whether Rose could be trusted to keep secrets from the heathen. The way she had sided instantly with Drusia against him, lied about the patriarch to get him to betray a friend to an elf, been ready to sacrifice him and his vows so she could violate her vows with her heathen lover, combined with the light scorn she and her colonel showed towards the "pleasure dome" of Emerylon...none of it filled him with confidence.

Even now she seemed a lot more open with Therese than with Tim himself. In fact, her best friends always seemed to be heathens (except maybe her cousin Brad, and even him she didn't respect that much). But he would hold his tongue about all of this.

He waited patiently for further exposition by Father Amalric.

[Jack Rothwell]

At Therese's touching of the half elf Tamina began edging toward the door. It seemed to the humanoid that the room's occupants had drifted into a world where everything else was background noise.

"I'm just going to..." She edged a little further. "...go and check on the thing..." The kobold cleared the doorway. "...the thingy... umm, thing."

A flash of disappearing tail later and she'd left the pair alone.

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose suppressed her annoyance at the grouchy old man. However, she was beginning to ask herself a question she would rather have avoided. For just how long has this guy been manipulating us? It can't have been before Gervasiel -- to all indications, he didn't know we existed before then -- but does it go back that far? And who else has he been manipulating?

Most importantly, why?

For the moment, she contented herself with asking Father Amalric an obvious question that, to her knowledge, didn't have an obvious answer. "And then, when we get there, what do we do?"

That slow-child glare once again. "We do what must be done."

Rose found herself becoming increasingly irritated. She considered herself to be a person who was slow to wrath ... but there were limits, and Amalric was pushing to those limits and beyond. "Now wait a minute," she said. "How can you expect us to help you with what has obviously turned into your quest if we don't --"

Amalric cut her off. "One moment." He reached under the display and produced two envelopes, one large, one small. These he handed to Rose, who could detect magic seals on both of them.

"Do not open these until the time comes when they must be opened," he said. "When the time is right, open the small one first, then the large one. You will then know what to do."

Well, that's something ... although not very much. "And how am I supposed to know 'when the time is right'?"

"You will know. Now go back and get everything secured for battle stations, and keep the civilians in the rear of the ship. We're going to start climbing." The map blinked out of existence and Amalric turned dismissively to the airship controls.

[OOC: Nothing more at the back of the ship until Desiree responds. Incidentally, somewhere buried in the text above is a spoiler that may be recognizable if you've read one certain book. If you think you know the book and the spoiler, PM me.]

[Alberich]

Tim saw that, if he was waiting patiently for further exposition, he was going to need a lot of patience indeed.

"And how am I supposed to know 'when the time is right'?" "You will know."

At least he hadn't said, "Keep your eye fixed on the envelope, and the moment it is right to open it, that will be the time."

Well, that was one style of command. It wasn't as inspiring as one where you kept your troops a little better informed, but no doubt Father Amalric had his reasons. Maybe he had some suspicion of Rose (or even himself?) as someone who had spent a little too much time and made a few too many friends among the heathen, and as such someone not to be burdened with too much useful intelligence.

He got moving to get things secured, mostly with tough cords. Boxes, clattery plates, that sort of thing. Now if we could just do the same with Desiree.