A tall ship and a rumor to steer her by
Posted on Friday August 9th, 2019 @ 04:40 hours by T'Kisha
Mission:
Hot Couture
Location: Lecture Hall, University, Rangalor V
Timeline: Prior to MD01
527 words - 1.1 OF Standard Post Measure
"...confirmed by identifying pseudomorphs of the original calcium oxalate crystals."
T'Kisha looked at the chronometer on the wall, then back at the students in the hall.
"The next subject we will broach is the use of spectrum analysis to examine the diagenesis of sedimentary samples. You are expected to review the appropriate material between now and the next class. My office hours are posted."
With that dismissal, the students in the lecture hall funneled out. A few students remained, asking questions of their Vulcan instructor, before leaving as well.
T'Kisha gathered her teaching material before heading back to her office, exchanging formalities along the way with fellow instructors. When she returned to her office, she found a hard copy list of various civilian ships operating in the local "stellar neighborhood."
She went through the list silently, occasionally stopping and typing in a query into the console at her office desk.
If T'Kisha were the deep sighing kind, she would probably be indulging in that illogical behavior at this moment. Since her "sudden sabbatical" from her duties with the Vulcan Archaeological Council, she had migrated to Rangalor V to continue her search for Shavok-Trilpa. Rangalor was perfect for her purposes. It was far enough away from the academic "centers of gravity" that she didn't need to worry about anyone "looking over her shoulder." She had visiting lecture privileges here, as well as connections in and out of the government, so she had room, board and access to all the data banks, both on world and off, that the university had links to. All that was available for the small price of teaching a few classes.
But after a month at the university, T'Kisha had come to the conclusion that there was simply no new data to be had. And she had no new leads to follow. What she needed, she had concluded, was to develop new leads. But how to go about this?
She had a persona of sorts as a trader, and a small ship to support that persona. But the routes her trader persona traveled, though useful for other purposes, were not going to bring her any new information concerning her current academic pursuit. Eventually, she decided to try to seek out a billet on a civilian ship operating in the sector. At best, it might provide her with new angles in her search and, at the very least, it would give her some time to step away from her search, so that she might gain new insight when she returned to her personal mystery.
T'Kisha paused at one name on the printed list. It was an aging Groumal class freighter, looking for a signaller. A small amount of research revealed an interesting history, one T'Kisha was sure wasn't complete. No matter. Discretion required that she not provide a full resume herself. What she could provide to the vessel's mistress, however, should suffice.
With that in mind, T'Kisha sent a message to the freighter, the SS Fawkes, to arrange a meeting with the vessel's captain when it arrived on Rangalor V. She then prepared a properly edited resume to give to the Captain upon her arrival.