Jaru nods in agreement with Raz. "The Port Authority and the Doctor's correspondence are really all we have to go on."
As he turns to head for the door, Jaru stops and raises a hand to catch Dr. Muhali's attention. "Just one more thing. Have you heard of a Dr. Eyrub Paqual?"
"A Dr Eyrub Paqual? Doesnt ring a bell. But we have excelent infosphere access here. Why dont you show them, Ikimsi?"
She motions to the receptionist.
"Thank you very much. I'm going to check with the police, see if they turned anything up. Good luck. And here is my personal com code, in case you need to reach me."
She sends over her personal com code with a few presses on her datapad, after which she disapears into the elevator.
Ikimsi is already typing in some search strings. He quickly uncovers a series of articles about elven ruins Dr Eyrub has published over the past 6 years.
At first blush, Dr Eyrub Paqual appears to be a moderately well-established academic. However, most of his articles appear in poorly vetted journals or cite him as one of numerous secondary authors
So to recap:
After clearing up the 'situation' with Alibliens, Dr Muhali did some analyzation on the samples of alien writing you found on the drif rock.
She had no idea what the language ment, but knew that writing like this has shown up in elven ruins on the continent of Ukulam.
When she went to contact her colleague, Dr. Solstarni, a language expert, there was no response. Dr. Solstarni had not shown up to her classes and neither her flat mate or her parents knew where she was.
You went to the office of Dr Solstarni, which you found in disaray. Dr Muhali went to alert the authorities, and you searched the room.
You found several things:
- Dr. Solstarni's personal calendar notes that she is scheduled for a research sabbatical in approximately 2 months, as approved by her department head, Muhali, and the authorities in Turhalu Point on the east coast of Ukulam.
There is also a letter open Professor Muhali granting Dr. Solstarni leave to depart 2 months early to take advantage of special conditions in the field, signed 2 days ago. When asked, Dr Mulhali explicitly states that she did not approve the leave to be moved forward.
- You found the door to one of the offices cabinets ajar. Inside, a set of basic lashunta tempweave fitted for a kasatha had fallen from its hanger. Strangely the cabinet had a sizaable dent. Fallen under the cabinet was a piece of paper, a printout of an invitation, inviting Dr Solstarni to meet at a cafe called the 'Five Arches' to discuss a find of new artifacts.
- On the computer you also found a series of 15 messages exchanged between Dr. Solstarni and a person named Dr. Eyrub Paqual regarding Solstarni’s research into the ancient elven settlements of Ukulam. The exchanges began fairly cordially as Paqual and Solstarni discussed minor details of interest from the minimal research published about these sites. As the discussion continued, however, Paqual grew more insistent and attempted to cajole the kasatha to meet with him at a cafe called the Five Arches in Qabarat’s Gateway District 2 days ago to appraise several artifacts he had recovered. Solstarni refused, citing a busy schedule.
- Checking the security camera feed of the building, there appeared nothing out of the ordinary, except 2 days ago. A trio of korasha lashuntas carrying heavy backpacks and wearing uniforms entered the building in the late evening—after all reception personnel had left. They then took the stairs up, but there seems to be no footage of them on other floors or even leaving the building. From inconsistencies in the footage on several floors (including the fourth floor, where Dr. Solstarni’s office is), you deduce that someone hacked into the building’s security cameras and looped footage of empty hallways to hide whatever they were doing. You identify the uniforms the lashuntas are wearing as being of the Gateway District’s Port Authority. Which is strange as they have no jurisdiction at the university.
- Doing a quick infosphere search you find a series of articles about elven ruins Dr Eyrub has published over the past 6 years. (You can still make the checks in my previous post if you have not done so)
Deciding to check out the port authority first, Ikimsi, the receptionist gets you directions to the offices in Qabarat's Gateway District, and arranges for a Cuber to pick you up.
(square automated vehicles that serve as taxis)
You get out in front of a massive building. Its 20 stories high and has three wings. As you enter the building, there is a large and nicely appointed waiting area. Its busy with people coming and going.
The reception area has desks on three sides of the room. One side is for permits, one side for customs, and one side for inquiries.
As you approach the next available desk, the lashunta woman behind it greets you with a smile. "Good day, how can I be of assistance?"
The lashunta woman smiles. "That is unfortunate. Was the shipment delivered but damaged? Or misdelivered? In case of damage during transport, generally, your client can file a claim and if found to be just, they get reimbursed. Or if it is misdelivered, is it your client package that ended up somewhere else? Or did your client recieve something not ment for them?"
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”Hello, my name is Blixa. What my erstwhile colleagues are trying to explain in imprecise language, my apologies, is that the port authority representatives were operating in a location where the port authority should not operate. Now, we both understand this could be quite the embarrassment for the authority and thus the sooner and quieter we clean up this indiscretion the better.
“Now. There were three were lashunta, wearing the uniform of the port authority along with rather large and heavy looking backpacks, which I think would be odd for port authority personnel, don’t you think? Anyway, they entered a private residence where they should not be, and had a rather heavy hand looking for whatever it was they were after. I am used to this behavior in ships holds, but not in a residential location.
“So you see, this all very delicate for the local authority. The last thing we wish to see happen is yet another scandal, this one involving stolen uniforms. So be a dear and tell us if the three men my ysokai colleague is about to show you work for the authority.”
The face of the lashunta behind the desk grows serious. "That is indeed a serious accusation. You said you had evidence of this? Please have this at the ready while I get you my supervisor."
She stands up from the desk and toggles a comlink. She leaves the room trough a side door. A few minutes later, a female damaya lashunta walks up to the desk, dressed in a simple but good looking buisness suit.
"Hello, I am Gate Controller Raiyiri. My colleague mentioned you had evidence port authority employees broke into a private residence?"
She blaches a bit. "Well, that might be. But I have to review the footage, so we can have this handled properly. Depending on what the footage show, I can get the proper departments involved."
Gate Controller Raiyiri intently watches the video of the men in port authority gear enter the university building. Its a short clip, and when its done, she motions for Antonius to play it again.
Once its done playing a second time, she looks up at the group, slightly annoyed.
"Well. Its neither as gruesome as you made it out to be, and neither is it a private residence. So, where is this building?"
When hearing its one of the main university buildings, she frows. "I have no idea where you were going with the story because uniformed employees of the Port Authority breaking into the university is more then enough for us to launch an investigation. Although you're probably after more direct info, for your 'client'. Let me pull some info for you."
She types for a few minutes at the terminal. When she has found what she was looking for, she swivels the view screen so you can all see the information. "These are the assignment logs for the last 3 days, which should include the time these three 'employees' visited the Uni. When you said it was the university, I cross referenced it with a delivery we did have outstanding for them, laboratory equipment, cryogenically frozen organic compounds, and specialty foodstuffs with authorization from the Qabarat University of Xenoarchaeology and Xenoanthropology." She points to the relevant data entries on the screen.
"But those crates were not picked up at the university proper. Just picked up and delivered as part of some expedition some university personel is having at Turhalu Point."