IC: Chapter Four - At Sea

[Steerpike]

"A good man for questions is what we need right now" Says McRaven, his voice drops to a low murmer before continuing "And I think some questions about our crew could be in order"

[Henrik]

Olof tries to find Captain Vredenburgh. When he does so he tells the captain: "I think I can fix the refrigerator with the material we have here at sea. I can not do anything about the lost ammonia, but repairing it now would minimize our stay in Australia. Even if Starkweather might think otherwise, it's your ship and I believe I'd need your blessing to begain repairing the broken pipes."

[Ghost_1971]

Callum studies Moore's calm face for a few seconds then replies "Very well Professor. I'm not completely convinced by your speech, but James and I will do as you request, and investigate the incident. We will inform you of anything we find."

[Laraqua]

Kitt goes to check on her plane, if possible, fearing that a saboteur may have gotten to that as well.

[OrionUK]

James being a little suprised by Professor Moore's reaction nods & turns to Callum "I think we should organise a room where we can start questioning the crew straight away"

Once Professor Moore is out of earshot he continues "This voyage has certainly been plagued by more mis-haps than I find acceptable & I do not intend to see anyone else's life put into unnecessary danger, we are going to have to take a firm hand over the questioning, starting with Henning, if he is fit to be questioned, and any other crew that were close by when the incident happened. We will need to make sure secure quarters for any suspects are arranged and all security staff co-operated with to get to the bottom of this.

[Charles Graves]

Washing his hands after giving Henning a thorogh examination, Graves turns to speak to the crew member.

"You've had a lucky escape young man, there is very little internal damage."

He wipes his hands on a towel and walks over to the examination table staring intently at the youngster sitting on it.

"Now think carefully lad," he begins in a serious tone, "in all the time you have been working in that area have you seen anything suspicious at all?"

[Raiko]

The messboy thinks for a few seconds before shaking his head and replying:

"No Professor, I didn't see a thing. Mr Whitney sent me down t'get the food for the evenin' meal. Almost everyone else was still having a party."

"Everything seemed to be ok, until I opened the Reefer door, then it was terrible, I couldn't breath. I just got out of there as quick as I could."

"You don't think someone did it on purpose do you?"



[OOC: Judas Whitney (clue in the name perhaps?) is the Chief Steward, and therefore Henning's boss]

[Ghost_1971]

"I dont think that questioning the crew is what Moore had in mind James. Something a bit more subtle is needed here. Perhaps we should start with going through the Crews personal belongings, on the quiet of course, to see what we can find. We'll have to be very careful though, sailores can get a bit touchy about things like that..."

[Decrepit]

"Well, all right then," Jack says to Sean and McRaven. "I'm happy enough to help if you think it really would be help. It's clear I don't know my stem from my stern when it comes to boats--ships, I mean. See?" He chuckles a little.

"One thing we might want to know is who would have unquestioned access to the reefer. I mean, I really haven't been paying attention, but can just anyone go down there unchallenged? Maybe, but my sense is that people belong in certain places and they're noticed if they're not. We also seem to be looking for someone fairly clever but either not too experienced in sabotage or not inclined to harm us fatally. As bad as the damage is, we can recover from it, especially if we turn back or delay our voyage.

"I think we also might want to think about what some key points of the ship are so that we can keep watch. We can't guard everything, of course, which is why there's all the more need to think about what's vital. If someone wants to keep hurting us, how would he do it?"

[Charles Graves]

"I'm not sure if it was done on purpose or not, but I think it would be wise for us both to keep an eye out for any suspicious goings on." Graves smiles, lightening the mood slightly. "better to be safe than sorry wouldn't you say."

[Steerpike]

McRaven ponders on Jacks words for a moment.
"Hell he'd go for anything that would force us to turn back. He's gone for the food, he could just as easily target drinking water, fuel for the aircraft or the aircraft themselves...so i think some of us should check over that. While Jack..."

McRaven then lapses in silence, looking around him and at the crew.

"You know when we were digging around while back in the states....the sailors were a close knit bunch, I wonder if whoever is doing this is like us...a stranger, someone new, recently joined...maybe you should check that out"

[OrionUK]

"You are right Callum, I still think we will need to question the crew but having a look around first certainly wont harm. I would prefer it if we did this quite methodically and made a few notes whilst we go along, just things like date & times checked on each room & if everything looks in order or anything unusual then, if needed, we can take our findings to whoever necessary"

"Do you think we need to mention what we are doing to anyone else as yet?" James was still thinking about who's help they would need if they found anything that needed dealing with.

[Henrik]

With some help Olof finishes the repairs. He notices the damage, which looks done by some sort of corrosive agent. Is this intentional or an accident? Why would someone do something like this? Is there a saboteur on board?

Olof goes and tries to find Jack who has a nose for these kind of things.

[Raiko]

It's long after sunset by the time Olof finishes the repairs, the Gabrielle's deck is mostly in darkness as he and the engine hand Sidney Beakins climb up out of the number 4 tween-deck hold. Now that the vile stench of ammonia has mostly cleared, the captain has had the heavy cover replaced over the hold main hatch, and the ship is once again steaming steadily south-west through calm seas.

Beakins continues aft towards his own quarters in the aftcastle as Olof heads to the crew's mess looking for Jack. He locates the journalist in their cabin, Dr Greene isn't there, but Sean and McRaven are, the three seem deep in thought as Olof enters the cramped cabin.

[OOC: Henrik: You can have Olof join the discussion in the Investigation#1 thread now if you like]

[Raiko]

SS Gabrielle - Pacific Ocean, Three Days South of the Equator.
10:15am - Thursday 28th September, 1933

After the 'accident' with the reefer store, the Gabrielle spends the next three days cruising steadily south west towards Australia without further incident. Starkweather spent a lot of the time in the Gabrielle's radio room, communicating ahead with suppliers in Melbourne to make sure that everything will be in place to repair and restock the reefer store.

Tuesday the twenty-sixth was a good day, the weather was pleasant, and most of the perishable food was consumed at great banquets of fresh fruit, vegetables and meat in both the officers and the crew messes. And most of it only tasted faintly of ammonia. Only Professor Graves looked too disappointed, his customary English breakfast was out of the question as all of the eggs were found to be inedible and thrown overboard. That evening Starkweather finds Olof and sincerely thanks him for his work repairing the damaged reefer store pipes.

Wednesday was not so good, the weather was still nice enough, but that was now part of the problem. Little of the good food now remained, and even that was spoiling rapidly in the tropical heat.

By the time of the evening meal, everybody aboard found themselves eating meals that consisted of mostly pemmican. Concentrated food consisting of dried pulverized meat, dried berries, and rendered fat, pemmican is the food of choice for (Ant)arctic explorers and everybody knew that they would be eating it once the ice is reached.

No one except for the sledge dogs was supposed to be eating it anywhere north of the Antarctic circle though.

The morale of the Gabrielle's crew rapidly plummets. Wherever members of the expedition travel they find themselves observed darkly by surly, almost hostile sailors. Mutterings about "Bloody Starkers," "Moore" and "Jonah" can often be heard. The ship's officers try their best to keep a lid on the situation, but there is clearly a rumour spreading throughout the crew the Starkweather and Moore are bad luck for the ship and are somehow responsible for everything that has gone wrong.

The rumours apparently began amongst the engine crew, with wild rumours of failed prior expeditions involving the two, and the general feeling is that this expedition and the Gabrielle herself are doomed.

Thursday the twenty-eighth begins with clear blue skies, more tropical heat, and an unappetising breakfast of pemmican served to the expedition by the two messboys Scott and Hennings, who look every bit as sullen as the rest of the crew.

At 10:15am the sounds from the dog pen in hold #5 rise higher and higher to a fevered pitch, punctuated by vicious barks and growls. The reason for the change in the sound is obvious to anyone who hears it: the dogs are fighting. It sounds as if they are at each others’ throats.

Moments later, a crewman sounds the alarm. Gregor Pulaski and Erik Frodesen race up the ladder from their quarters in the aft. Off-duty sailors trail behind, curious to see what’s going on.

[Decrepit]

Jack had gotten a sense of the crew's discontent. Indeed, they hadn't really gone to any trouble to keep it a secret. Privately, Jack even shared some of their suspicions. He had no love for Starkweather himself, and bad luck--or whatever it was; Jack wasn't very reflective in matters of Providence or cosmic destiny or the like--seemed to shroud the man like a blanket.

When Jack hears the sound of dogs, he groans. What now, for goodness sake? He isn't anxious to find out what's going on, either, as he knows he'd be no damn good at separating semiwild beasts trying to tear each other--or him--apart, which sounded to him too much like that one and only time his ex-wives, current and future, had gotten together.

[BlackGoat]

Sean eatting away at some pemmican looks down at it and says blatantly...

"I'll be damned if I don't get some real food soon, bad enough I'll be eatin' this the entire time i'm out their slipping on the big ice box..."

Just then hearing the alarm he tenses up a bit as if this is what he had felt coming. He starts to question himself over him and Bill's(mcRaven) search of the holds, etc.


thinking..."Did we miss something!?"

He quickly gets up from his bed and rushes out to find anyone nearby to question on the event.

[Henrik]

Olof decides that this might be a good reason to leave breakfast early. The pemmican is not a real treat and perhaps this dog business has some more nefarious explanation? The engineer excuses himself and leaves to see what is going on, although he has very little experience with dogs and sled dogs in particular.

[Laraqua]

Kitt tags along, thinking to herself that it might be nice to invite everyone to play a game of cards later.

[Charles Graves]

Graves also rushes towards the sound of the fighting dogs, thinking he may be needed to patch up any injuries sustained by the animals.