Memory transcription subject: Serz Kersho, Vaulter Seeker
Date [standardized aurigan time]: Fall 3, 1 AA
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In my time on Aafa, Recel had been cleared of any charges by the Kolshian Commonwealth, and got himself appointed as a military liaison to the Aurigan Federacy, while Chauson had himself assaulted by anti-predator extremists. All in all the trip felt like a very mixed bag, which produced more doubts than it did results.
Tarva had to leave early when news arrived of the Cradle's condition. It seemed that the Arxur tried to profit from our conflict, and take the Gojid Homeworld as a hunting prize, but an impromptu moment of co-operation between the angry hedgehog and Kata had saved the planet from glassing.
When she left, the governor left Chauson in charge of me, which is probably why he got into trouble, for all intents and purposes I was now his responsibility, and many aliens saw that as a betrayal of their Federations' principles.
Seeing as Tarva took our Faering for her trip back to Venlil Prime, I was stuck flying in a federation vessel with Chauson, and half of diplomats from the species that agreed to open relationships with the Federacy, while Recel was in another shuttle with the other half. Chauson and I were ferrying the Yotul, Mazic, Dossur, and Nevok representatives, while Recel was flying with the Sivkit, Paltan, Thafki, and Fissan representatives. The Takkan representative never made it in time, so they were left behind on Aafa.
Since our ships used space-time folding for travel and communications, Piri was able to deliver the news of the Cradle's fate the day it happened, and Tarva was back in Venlil space by the end of the same day thanks to our Faering's fold drive.
But the Federation ship I was stuck on was using their own subspace tech instead, which made travel far slower. We were still days out from Venlil space, and I was trying to entertain the occupants with some of our music.
I was halfway through the ballad of endless dust when the ship rattled violently. This wasn't the first time the ship rattled during our journey, and I was starting to grow suspicious that something was wrong.
The rattling made me stop my singing, and the Mazic President, previously enraptured by it, was suddenly looking at me with either confusion or concern. "Why did you stop? It was a beautiful, if sad, ballad."
"Is that rattling normal? It's been getting worse since the first time it happened." I mused out loud, looking at the Mazic from under my helmet.
The Yotul representative then raised his paw up like a school child wanting to answer the teacher. "It sounds like it's coming from the cooling shaft. We should run a diagnostic."
"As if you'd know the difference between a cooling shaft and a sailboat's mast." The Nevok ambassador scoffed. "You uplifts barely just invented the printing press."
"And my people went from carts to Faerings in a mere thirty years. Your point?" I felt the need to retort, keeping my voice calm and cool.
The Nevok seemed to grow nervous, "W-well, it's different! They were given their technology!"
"So were most Federation species, no? As far as I know, the three founding species were the only ones to invent FTL travel on their own, correct?"
"Correct..." The Nevok answered meekly.
"Ok, good. Now that we've established you're all equally uplifts, let's make sure our shuttle isn't slowly falling apart."
The Yotul ambassador stared at me in awe for a moment, and I gave him a small nod as I made my way over to Chauson in silence.
"Alright, let's do a diagnostic. Hopefully everything's fine." I said in a quiet tone, not wanting anyone to overhear.
"I thought you said worrying is pointless." Chauson replied with a small hint of amusement.
"Do not confused worry with suspicion. Also, that's for situations outside of your control."
Chauson mused my words over and gave a small nod, before opening the troubleshooting interface on the ship. It took several seconds to complete the scan, before a small diagram of the shuttle popped to life. It then zoomed in on the underbelly of the ship, where it showed a coolant pipe flashing in bright red.
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"So, Laulo was right..." I mused softly, causing Chauson to look back at me.
"Do you think he did it?" The zurulian sounded worried, and I resisted the urge to pat him on the head.
"No, I think he's scared. Can you fix it?"
"I should be able to, but we need to exit subspace for that. And I need to exit the ship."
"Well, then do it. We don't need the ship overheating with us inside. I'll keep an eye on the others while you fix it. Can we contact Recel's ship?"
The zurulian shook his head. "No, we can't. We'd need to be in real space together for that."
I sighed softly. "Ok, I have an idea, I'll try it while you suit up."
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Memory transcription subject: Recel, Kolshian Liaison
Date [standardized aurigan time]: Fall 3, 1 AA
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The shuttle ride had been rather boring so far, with the representatives on board all doing nothing but speculating and gossiping about the Aurigans, as well as the fate of the Cradle. Most of it was about what the other races were saying. Apparently the Krakotl thought the whole thing was a conspiracy designed to make the Aurigans look good. As if the Arxur would willing let themselves be defeated at great loss of lives and ships.
I was trying to do a word puzzle in a magazine when suddenly a golden glow began floating up from my skin, and I screamed like a child as Serz's face appeared in the glow.
"Mother of- Calm down. It's just Dust." The apparition said, but it was too late, all the other ambassadors were now in the cockpit with me, staring at the face as well
"Y-you can all see that, right? Not just me?" I pointed to the floating face with a tentacle, while my head turned to look at the onlookers.
The Sivkit ambassador fainted at the sight, which was more than enough confirmation in my mind that I wasn't going crazy.
"Yes, they can see me. Listen. We have a coolant leak, we need to stop for repairs. Has your ship been rattling since we left Aafa?" The apparition asked, and I gave an awkward nod, while the representatives on board looked to each other, whispering conspiratorially.
"How did he know?"
"Wait, are we also leaking coolant?"
"Were we sabotaged?"
The apparition made the sound of throat clearing, before giving me a very serious look. "Ok, so that confirms my suspicions. Do a diagnostic scan, someone's definitely cut the coolant pipes on both our shuttles. We'll pull into real space for repairs, and I suggest you do the same. We can talk properly then. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to rest."
The apparition then vanished, the golden dust losing its glow and becoming invisible once for, and for a brief moment I swore I saw a white cube out of the viewport on the shuttle, right behind where Serz's face had been. But then when I blinked, it was gone.
"R-right, diagnostic, diagnostic..." I mumbled as I went over to the ship's console, punching in a few commands. As predicted, we were leaking coolant, and failure to fix it would cause our subspace drive to overheat.
"Someone look after Axsely, I'm going to pull us into real space. Hopefully we can fix the leak quickly."
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Memory transcription subject: Serz Kersho, Vaulter Seeker
Date [standardized aurigan time]: Fall 4, 1 AA
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"I highly doubt it was someone on board." I spoke into the ship's comms, Recel making a thoughtful noise on the other side.
The repairs had taken hours, but we were able to fix both ships around the same time. Chauson took care of our coolant leak, while Recel took care of his. Now it was just time to figure out who did it.
"But you said Laulo seemed to know exactly where to look?" The Kolshian responded, not trying to be accusatory, by the sound of it, but suspicious nonetheless.
"I think he saw something, but is too scared to say anything. None of the other representatives come across as martyrs, I don't think whoever cut the coolant is on either ship. Though the absence of the Takkan makes me suspect-"
"The Takkan ambassador is dead..." Came a small voice from behind me, and I turned around to see Laulo. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything, but I saw everything. The Takkan ambassador tried to stop the sabotage, and they killed him."
Recel gasped while I did my best to not get angry, instead getting down on one knee to face the Yotul. "Who killed him?"
"It was the Kolshias, the same officers that filled the ships with supplies also cut the coolant lines."
"And they killed the Takkan ambassador?"
"Yes, they shot him for trying to intervene. I was hiding... I didn't want to end up like him. So I didn't say anything."
Recel seemed too stunned to speak, so I turned my attention back towards the comm. "Recel, do you think that's why you were pardoned? Just so you could vanish with the rest of them?"
"B-But... Why would Chief Nikonus do that?" The kolshian's voice sounded weak, defeated. He was probably running through a million anxieties in his head.
"Maybe he doesn't truly want to work with the Aurigans. Pretend to be our friend, then make us look like we killed the diplomats sent our way, so that they can say we betrayed their trust?"
"That's... possible. It would explain why he never sent a real diplomat, just disgraced little Recel." The Kolshian sighed deeply, and I could hear the air whistling through his siphons.
"Well, this is our chance to prove him wrong, both about yourself, and about my people. So let's get these diplomats to VP, before another incident occurs." I said to Recel, and the Kolshian gave me an affirmative noise, before cutting the call.
"Oh, and Laulo." I turned to the Yotul, and he seemed conflicted on whether he should be scared or not. "Good job. But maybe don't wait until we've nearly blown up before informing us." I patted the little guy on the shoulder, before heading out of the cockpit to grab Chauson. We had a diplomatic delegation to deliver, after all.