Pulling the ship's log had revealed something important. This wasn't actually the Fatima's Bounty - just a very simliar looking ship. We were actually aboard the Akander. Perhaps we could leave the cushions after all.
There was still the matter of the crew, however, one of whom was dead on the bridge, having failed to get his spacesuit closed in time. Looking down the corridor that lead to the other airlock, we found a second body.
Gurgeh sent in his drone to observe, and confirmed that the body was definitely dead. We could see now that the second airlock had become damaged, and wouldn't close. Past it was a corridor leading into the asteroid. Once again the drone took the lead, finding some strange writing on the wall. It looked a lot like the writing we'd seen on the towers on Kua, but Lila confirmed that it was a more modern version of that script, unlikely to be used by portal builders but potentially the work of the first come and around three hundred years old.
Alqadi took up a defensive position near the writing, to ensure we had cover as we approached the end of the corridor. There it widened out into a small hall. Another body lay on the floor, dead and burned according to Gurgeh, while another floated in the minimal gravity. This one was different, however. Not only did a green light on his suit suggest that he was still alive, but when we checked the name tag on his suit, it read 'Lavim'.
Above the bodies was a strange black inverted dome, depicting some kind of white flower that Sayah recognised as a Zarak flower. Gurgeh recalled that they were said to have healing properties. But this wasn't the time to hang around admiring the scenery. Lavim was badly injured, and we would have to work fast to get him back to the ship. Sayah was getting increasingly on edge from the number of dead bodies, reminding the others that last time she saw this many corpses they'd got up and ripped Lila's arm off. Along with the worrying messages she was getting from Suleiman about something trying to affect his systems, she was keen to leave, and nobody disagreed.
Gurgeh took Lavim down to the med lab while Sayah took Jinna up to the arboretum to keep her out of the way. It was obvious that Lavim needed a proper trauma lab if he was going to survive, so Gurgeh stabilised him and put him in one of the stasis pods to keep him alive while we flew back to Djachroum.
Tahir took the helm, and the rest of the crew settled down to various activities. We were maybe ten hours into our journey when we got a sudden warning message that we had strayed into Legion space and were required to change course immediately. Tahir made the course change and tried to find out what had happened. We shouldn't have been anywhere near Legion space on the course he'd set.
We consulted Suleiman. He didn't seem to think anything was amiss. He was following the set course. Everything was fine. Finally we got him to compare the position of the stars with where he claimed we were and what appeared on the maps.
"The stars appear to have moved."
There was nothing for it. Something had gone badly wrong with Suleiman and we were going to have to do a restore from backups. Out in a particularly dicey bit of space didn't seem like the ideal place to be doing it, but it was the best of the available choices. Fortunately Sayah had come down from her latest opor high, and was ready for work. Essential systems were switched to backup, and the reboot began.
Without Suleiman to help, it was down to Tahir to pilot alone, but even his skill wasn't enough to avoid a huge ion cloud. We could only watch helplessly as electricity and radiation coursed across the hull. The Aliya was well shielded though, and it looked like she was going to weather the storm.
And then the light on Suleiman's console went out. Sayah's scream could be heard throughout the ship.
Of all the Aliya's parts, Suleiman was the only one that wasn't a good fit. He hadn't been made for light freighters, and even after having to leave parts of him behind on the Ghazali, his installation was very much a case of shoving bits in wherever they vaguely fitted. With Gurgeh busy monitoring Lavim, it fell to Sayah and Tahir to locate and repair the fault. A few fervant prayers later, Tahir had spliced the damaged cables back together. Sayah waited with bated breath until finally the lights came back on.
Suleiman was brought up to speed on recent events. Tahir set a course for Djachroum. Sayah spent the rest of the journey hugging Suleiman's data cores.
We made it back to Djachroum without further incident this time, although it was obvious the ship was going to need a full service before we could risk flying again. Karim managed to get us booked in for repairs at a reasonable price, but soon had other problems to deal with when the harbour master complained that the mineral extractors we'd sold were defective, and also refused to let Lavim out of the ship without paying his debts. The situation was only resolved when someone from the Union showed up and browbeat the harbour master into letting us through.
Alqadi and Karim took Lavim down to the local surgeon, accompanied by Jinna. They were treated to the unsettling sight of a spider doctor robot opening up Lavim's skull and doing extensive work on his brain.
Lila had more interesting things to think about. Lavim had had a small stone in his hand, decorated with the same white flower as the dome we'd seen on the asteroid. Unfortunately, despite heartfelt prayers to the Gambler, she was unable to learn much about it.
Back at the ship repairs had been carried out and the Aliya was spaceworthy again. It was time to get answers to some questions. Why had we felt so ill on the journey back? What was causing the nosebleeds? What had happened to Suleiman? And most of all, what would Lavim have to tell us?
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