Altered Perspective

Wardroom 

Tucked beneath and around the ship's spinal corridor, the wardroom serves both as workroom and general quarters for the ship's crew. Port and starboard rise the sleeping facilities, a set of double bunks running the length of the space. Each bunk has a set of built in cabinets and lockers for storing personal effects. The middle of the room is ample, sized to fit and brief the entire crew if necesssary. A central conference table dominates the space, its long dimension running from fore to aft. Spartan steel chairs ring the table, designed for utility instead of comfort. The forward wall has a large display screen, above which are ranked a battery of supplementary monitors. Aft is a compact galley, along with a cluster of smaller tables for eating and general conversation.

A series of shielded sconces provide flexible lighting, allowing sections of the room to be darkened, letting some crew sleep while others continue their work. A gangway leads up to the ship's main corridor, while forward a paneled door leads to the Captain's private stateroom.

Next to the stateroom entrance there is a slightly off color piece of metal bulkhead which appears to have been riveted onto the existing ship's bulkhead. It is inscribed with the names "Bernard Hitchcock" "Colin Marshall" and "David Ransom Porter". The last appears twice, the first occurance appears to have been etched out before being re-inscribed at the end of the list.

Sixmoon walks into the wardroom, a single PDA in his hand for a change, and takes a seat at the conference table. He taps a button, calling up a display.

Zetral is seated at a table, a small servo-type machine in front of him, with the case pulled off. He is manipulating the parts carefully, a look of concentration on his face.

Sixmoon arches his eyebrows, sets down the PDA, and then stands, peering down at the display. Makes a hmming noise. Pulls out his chair, steps up onto it, then further up onto the table. He stands on the left side of the PDA and stares down at it. Then moves to the right side, peering down. Finally, he moves so that he's opposite where he was sitting, stares down, and then says, "Ah."

Zetral catches some of this out of the corner of his eye, causing him to look up, to study the man standing on the table, a bit of disbelief on his face. He opens his mouth, about to say something, but then stops short, just watching for a time longer.

Sixmoon kneels, rotates the PDA so it's facing the other way. Stands, then steps down onto the chair and then to the floor before settling back into the chair and studying the inverted display.

Zetral raises slowly to his feet, and walks over to stand near Sixmoon. "Uhh... Professor?" He asks, a little hesitantly, "What /are/ you doing?"

Sixmoon doesn't look up from the PDA when he answers: "Altering perspectives to achieve enlightenment."

Zetral nods, very slowly, as he glances towards the screen. His only evaluation of what he sees is a soft, "/Riiiggght/.." After a couple of seconds he asks, "Are you sure that's what they meant?"

"Yes. No." The Qua archaeologist knits his brow, jerking his head around to stare up at Zetral. "Why? Did they tell you differently?"

Renkek Kashaan lies on his bed reading various texts

Zetral blinks, studying the archaelogist increduliously. "No, they didn't tell me at all... But I'm just wandering if, well, maybe they meant look at it from somebody else's shoes, rather then literally different perspectives..."

Sixmoon tilts his head, looking down at Zetral's feet. "A little small for me."

Zetral smiles, taking a step sideways, "Alright, howabout this... How would somebody else think about it?" He then glances at the screen, "And, uh... what is it?"

"It's a replica of an ancient Vollistan star map," the professor replies in a rather annoyed tone, as if *everyone* should know what the mess of squiggles and dots is on the screen. He points at a particularly spotty section of the map, which looks all stippled. "Tomin Nebula, I think." He finds another spot, distant in the upper left hand corner of the display. "Vollista, most likely."

Zetral nods, rubbing at his chin. "So..." He squints his eyes, poking the corner of his tongue out of his mouth. "This would be Grimlahd?"

Sixmoon studies the area Zetral refers to. Shakes his head. "No. That's Ist'thol'mek." He points just a little lower. "That would be Grimlahd. You can tell, because of the ancient Volspak cuneiforms. They clearly spell out Grimlahd. Well, not exactly Grimlahd. More like 'short-tall lizard cold.'"

Zetral nods, very slowly. "That doesn't look much like modern Volspak... At all." He hrms, softly, rubbing at his chin.

"No, it wouldn't, because it is ancient Volspak," the archaeologist replies. He scratches his chin, pondering. "Although, that's not exactly accurate. It is more likely a precursor of Volspak, possibly even Kamir in origin. Maps like this, compared to Kamir artifacts found in the multiverse in the past few years, have given us evidence of the relationship between the Kamir and the Vollistans, at the very least." He points at the stippled section, the nebula. "But this is my real concern."

Zetral hrms, very softly, as he studies the Nebula. "So, Palisade should be somewhere in here..." He runs his hand over the area on the PDA. "Is it on the map?"

"Not that I've been able to find," Sixmoon says, shaking his head. He points at two different spots that are marked with cuneiforms in the display, within the nebula. "One is called 'jumping bug cold.' The other is called 'nothing wasteland.' Their positions are totally out of whack, nothing like scale of any measurable precision. But they appear, more or less, to be Odari and Tomin Kora."

Zetral nods, after running a hand back through his hair. "Right... So, what we need is... A way to sort out the proper scale?"

Sixmoon stares at the display for a few moments in silence. Then he says, "No, what we need to do first is find the relative position of Palisade compared to the two we have found, and then calibrate the scans accordingly." He tilts his head. Jumps back onto his chair, then onto the table. He walks around so he's facing Zetral. Kneels. Slowly, he turns the PDA over so the display is face-down.

Zetral is returned to his blinking state, looking between the Professor and the PDA.

Still looking at the PDA's backside, Sixmoon says, "Tell your captain we must go to Odari at her earliest convenience." He plucks the PDA off the table, then stands and steps down onto the chair, looking down at Zetral. "I need to see the original of this map."

Zetral nods, once, "Sure." He pulls out his own PDA, scribbling a note with his stylus. "Will the Odarites let you see it? Doesn't really seem their style..."

"They're Odarites," the professor replies as he steps down onto the deck, still clutching the PDA. "Everything's for sale."

Zetral smirks, nodding, "Yes, it is... Just so long as you have the credits.. Well, Clax, with them."

Sixmoon nods. "Well, I know a merchant, and he owes me a few favors." He starts walking off toward the corridor. "I am sure something can be worked out. Thank you."