Chapter 4.3 Signals in the Wake

Verik listens without interruption, the faintest hint of a smile touching his expression as Chaala finishes. It is not amusement—it is recognition. He nods once, slowly.

"That… is the right question."

He leans back slightly, considering them for a moment before continuing.

"What I get out of this is straightforward. I deal in access, context, and outcomes that don’t create unnecessary problems—for my clients or for myself. If you arrive here and move cleanly through the situation, that reflects well on anyone associated with you. If you do not…"

He lets the thought trail off slightly.

"…that also has consequences."

A brief pause, then more direct.

"I am not looking to complicate your objective. But I am not in the habit of introducing unknown variables into a situation like this without understanding them first. That is why we meet."

His tone shifts, practical again.

"As for your arrival—yes, we can proceed."

He glances slightly off-screen, likely checking a display.

"I will have a commercial pad prepared adjacent to the Star’s Mercy. Your approach should be routine—no unusual maneuvers, no attempt to avoid notice. That tends to draw more attention than it avoids."

Another small pause.

"Transmit your approach vector when you are within range, and I will ensure the appropriate parties understand that you are arriving under my observation."

A final look back to the screen.

"That will give you the cleanest entry you’re likely to get here."

The faintest hint of that earlier expression returns.

"Once you are on the ground, we will speak."

The channel remains steady, the implication clear: you have your way in. Now you have to take it.

When Verik mentions the landing at the commercial pad, Amara types out on his work station and sends message to Chaala, Virel and the others;
'Harlan and I have worked on the fly-by-wire connections for the Cutter, if we want to use the Cutter to fly us in.'

Chaala acknowledges Amara with a quick finger signal where the camera can't see it.

"One more quick question. Within these layers, what is the status of the offworld craft and any crew that remain with it?"

Good question, Bohdie thinks to himself. He had to admit that the buearacratic language was particularly well spoken by both Virel and Chaala. And it seems to be bringing them ever closer to their goal. But his senses are alert. An ancient Terran saying about the spider web tingles comes to mind.

Bohdie’s internal thoughts:
There is no doubt that we are walking into the spider’s web when we land. But I do not believe the problem is Verik. Nor do I think that whatever the Harrier and Dominicus walked into constitutes ‘normal’ for the Alejia. But there are just too many unknowns.

Verik listens carefully to Chaala’s question, and this time the pause is just a fraction longer. Not hesitation—consideration. When he responds, his tone remains even, but there is a subtle shift indicating the question has sharpened his understanding of their interests.

"That is a more specific line of inquiry."

"The offworld craft you’re referring to remains where it was left—intact, undisturbed, and… observed. It has not been seized, and it has not been dismantled. That, in itself, should tell you something about how the situation is being handled."

His gaze narrows slightly, not suspicious, but analytical.

"As for the individual you mentioned—yes, I am aware of him. He has maintained a… low profile. There has been no direct interference with his position, though that does not mean he is without attention. Nothing on Marinagua exists entirely outside of notice."

A brief pause follows, then Verik leans back slightly, drawing a conclusion.

"If you are asking this question, I assume you are considering whether that craft—and its occupant—are intended to remain in place or depart once you arrive."

Another small pause, more practical now.

"That is something I can make inquiries about. Quietly. Whether the current understanding is that the craft is to remain as it is, or whether its departure would be… acceptable."

His expression remains composed, but there is a subtle shift—he is now testing them again.

"That said, if your intention is to consolidate your position on the ground, it would be worth considering whether bringing your own vessel down simplifies matters rather than complicates them. Multiple offworld assets tend to draw attention—particularly when they begin to move."

He lets that hang for a moment.

"Decide how you intend to present yourselves, and I will make the appropriate arrangements."

The channel remains steady, Verik watching—not pressing, but clearly expecting that each answer is helping him build a more complete picture of who, exactly, he is dealing with.

Chaala mutes the comm and turns to face Virel, ensuring her lips are off camera before speaking.

"I don't really like either option, but unless we want to scrub all the markings off Voyager, someone's going to recognize she's a Scout ship, so I don't think using the Cutter loses us anything. I prefer not having her tied to the ground, so I guess I'm favoring the Cutter. It'll get Voss off the ground, too, which will be good for his morale. We can still go with non-Scout uniform and be what we officially are, off books assistance."

Virel nods slightly. "Yes. The less Verik, and anyone else listening now or hearing of this later, understands about our connection to the Scouts, the better. We have already made it clear that we are not traders here to threaten existing markets or agreements. That leaves only one concern: that our arrival disrupts the balance already in place.

The Cutter seems the most reasonable choice. Its movement may draw attention, but likely less than bringing Voyager down. Once Voss is aboard, we can speak with him more freely about the local dynamics and decide who is best suited to return planetside."

As he finishes, Virel briefly glances toward the others beyond the camera’s view, giving a small nod toward the datapad, an invitation for any further observations.

Wilbur speaks in a measured tone, eyes still on the screen.

"The Cutter is already on the ground with Scout markings. Everyone who cares already knows what it is. Using it will definitely show us as Scouts, which is not a problem for me — on the contrary, it sends a clear signal.

My concern is the movement itself. A cutter that lifts without warning and comes down somewhere else sends a signal we can't control. We don't know how that reads on the ground, or how the tribes interpret it."

Before we commit, we should ask Verik directly. He has the local picture. We're making this decision without it, and that's exactly the kind of thing that derails a mission before it starts."

"Verik has already alluded to this. I think we should let him make his inquiries. He implied that bringing our ship down would simplify things, but it also shows information we may not be ready to give and puts more crew at risk than we might be willing to do. If it merely 'simplifies' things that doesn't make it the right choice."

"They are an alien species of which we know little. They will take it how they take it. Most likely different Alejia will take it different ways. Those who have been dealing with Dominicus will most likely take it differently than those who have not. Verik's answer will tell us some of that, but I don't think we make our decisions based entirely on how they will be percieved. If we give the impression that we have been monitoring for six months they will think we know more than we do, but they will wonder why we let Voss sit there alone. I do not think many will think that for long. Most likely more of them will come to the correct conclusion, that we have come after they did not come back. They may wonder why we used the cutter instead of landing with our ship, but, while the free captains will know differently, they may suspect that our people build larger ships that cannot land and use the Cutters as our means of doing so. They have certainly seen larger ships than the free traders, with Niparoo landing vastly larger vessels, but they won't have seen a wide variety."

Wilbur is quiet for a moment.
"Understood. My concern isn't the Alejia — it's the variables we could resolve before we move and haven't. Verik has the local picture. We don't.

We're not blind, but we could see better. That's all I'm flagging."

Bohdie listens, rather than interjects. He waits until the conversation seems to taper off. "Disturbing the cutter might be best if advised against. First of all, having the cutter on the ground could be a point of morale for Dominicus and her crew. Second, we do not know how that would be perceived by the various factions within the Alejia. But more important is that while Dominicus’ crew aren’t’prisoners’, it’s clear they are not free to go. And for the cutter to suddenly leave where it is and then come back, land next to Verik’s ship and disembark more, different people not going to be seen as anything resembling normal. More than that is that it marks us as more of the same and could taint Verik’s position as well. So what if our markings are similar. What do they know… what does anyone out on this hind end of space know of the Imperium or the scout service. There are two things that are already going wrong here. First, we have run afoul of analysis paralysis. We are spending so much time trying to figure out all the ins and outs and not enough time doing. And the second is failing to realize a good plan executed right away is better than the perfect plan executed too late. We’ve already unzipped. We can wait on Verik, but really, the next move is ours."

Victor listened to all the conversation and planning. He then raised his hand and said, "Why don't we deploy two teams? We have tried to understand Aleija's language and went so far as to create a translator. We can try to infiltrate the least prominent Aleija faction and try to trade for information. Maybe we can get undercover and move closer to Dominicus. Where another team meets up with Verik. I am sure Verik knows that we are somehow related to the ISS."

Wilbur says nothing. The set of his jaw says he disagrees. The decision isn't his to make.

"I love the idea of infiltrating, but discarded it because we're not two meter tall birds and I got the impression that they know all the humans they work with. Otherwise, we'd be using Brodie's expertise more directly. I don't think there's any undercover opportunity here. If it looks different on the ground, I'm all for it, especially since the Alejia won't know we can understand them as well as we can." Chaala sighs.

She looks back to Brodie, "Points taken about the Cutter. We'll wait to see what Verik says, but I still think it's the better option, since it keeps Voyager in reserve. I don't like the idea of her getting stuck on the ground with the threat that if she lifts off something could happen to Dominicus and the crew. I also don't know how tightly controlled Dominicus and the rest are, they might not even know if the Cutter moves. If they do, they will know other Scouts are here which, if it were me, would bouy me more than the Cutter moving would worry me. We know we're coming into a delicate situation, and I want to keep some of our resources outside that situation so if diplomacy fails we have more options." She pauses, "Speaking of which, I don't think we go in fully armed and armored, but I want us to have a full loadout available on whichever craft is on the ground with us."