Swamped

Though, you've got a few concerns that she wouldn't know anything about. Lex should have been back by now, and you're starting to wonder if he's the one who rang the navigator's bell.

Well, you can start with his absence, you suppose. Maybe you can lead that conversation somewhere interesting.

"Lex isn't back? That's odd. It shouldn't take that long to get to the infirmary and back."

"Well, you had him ask Donnie for somethin', right? Maybe that's just takin' a while," Colleen suggests.

"I just had him ask for a note."

"Yeah, but maybe he can't take the request. Could've had a new patient he had to tend to first, for instance. And, an official note like that would probably be hard for him to hand off to someone else, since the whole point's to have the medic vouch for it, right? At the least he'd have to read it over and sign his name to it, I figure."

"I guess that makes sense," you agree. But you aren't quite convinced.

"What, you think something else happened?"

Hmm, this might be a good opening to lead this conversation somewhere. You just need to pose a theory where Colleen's reaction might tell you something, or perhaps lead to a different topic.

You suppose you're just anxious about people going missing around here.

If someone planted the gas intentionally, it implicates crew involvement. If someone is acting against the best interests of the expedition, they may be ready to take other overt actions now that the gas incident has happened and the crew is on the lookout for the culprit, forcing their hand.

All of this is to say, you're worried.

"I guess the gas has me a little worried," you explain. "Somebody had to put it in there, right? Which means somebody in the crew, unless someone snuck onto a ship this far out from any port."

"And you think whoever that is might have gone after Lex?" Colleen asks. "It'd mean they'd have to know he was looking into the gas. Who'd you tell?"

"Let's see... we were working with a sailor called Billie, and I guess there's a few others who were in the room and might have overheard us. Other than that, there's just you, the cook, and the man who opened the door the first time. Oh, but it sounded like he'd been talking with the medic earlier..."

Odd, she doesn't seem to react much until you mention the sailor who opened the door. Then she seems a little worried. Time to press.

"Now that I think about it, I didn't see that sailor when I went into the kitchen. There was a different one. I wonder what he was doing? Maybe he'd finished up and was joining the party?"

"Could be," Colleen says quickly. "Or they could be taking shifts... in which case I want to know why nobody took over for me. I think I'm gonna have to ask Lou about that when this is over."

She's very clearly trying to change the subject. You think you're getting somewhere.

So where do you take this conversation from here?

Fashion. Did you see what Lou was wearing?

Well, for now it may be best to let her think the derailment is working. Then mention the sailor again when she seems comfortable, and she might let something slip.

"Might be hard to catch him if everyone's leaving the party at once," you muse. "Maybe I can keep an eye out for him in case you don't get a chance... well, then again I'm not really sure what he looks like."

"He's got a pretty plain face, to be honest," Colleen replies. "The thing that stands out most is that he's always shaved, which ain't sayin' much. Easier to recognize him by his clothes. Every time I see him, he's wearing a light blue bandanna and a sleeveless shirt of the same shade."

"I guess that's recognizable enough, unless he dressed up for his party."

Colleen laughs, but it sounds a little off. You've heard her laugh plenty of times before and it's always more enthusiastic. Something's making her nervous.

Could Lou be dressed up? But if she knew he had, why would that be something to hide?

You feel like you have a lot of little pieces, but you don't have any clue how they fit together. The party is invitation only, and includes a top officer. They're only serving stew at the party instead of anything special. The cook is working with a printing press, and seems to be handing out notes that say "In the name of Goan", whoever that is. There was a sailor in the kitchen holding a sack and trying to conceal it, and Colleen seems a bit on edge about discussing that sailor. And she seems a little nervous at the mention of "dressing up".

Also, there were burnt onions in the trash, Lex hasn't come back yet, and someone rang the navigator's bell to lead the cook out. You can't tell if any of those are related to the party, but the rest almost certainly is.

Perhaps you can get something out of all that. If not an explanation, at least an idea of what you're still trying to learn.

It occurs to you suddenly that the cook's face doesn't stand out much. You mainly recognized him by the very distinctive outfit.

So what if someone - maybe Lou, maybe someone else - was dressed up as the cook, and Colleen noticed?

That also might explain why they're serving stew. A fake cook might not know enough to make something more elaborate. Or how long onions should be boiled, for that matter.

It doesn't answer all your questions, but quite a few of the oddities are explained by it. Get the cook out of the way, send an impostor, and use the kitchen as cover for the printing press. The second mate's probably involved in order to help cover things up.

But when it comes down to it, all you have right now is a guess. Maybe a few more questions to Colleen can help you get a sense of how close it is.

Think they'll save any of that stew for the captain?

"So, you think the Captain's going to join in? We've had a lot going on lately and he might opt to invite himself to the party if it gets to be too much. It's his ship, after all."

Colleen laughs nervously.

"I heard he poked his head in about an hour ago. Didn't have any stew, though. Just grabbed a drink, talked with a few of the guests, and left. Guess he was too busy for more than that."

Hmm. So it's probably not a mutiny, then. Still quite strange.

"Who'd you hear that from? Someone who left early?"

"Ah, yeah, that'd be it. Someone left through this door and commented on it. I don't think I know her name, though."

The look on her face makes it clear she wasn't expecting to answer that. Seems you're getting very close to something. Whoever told her that was probably someone she doesn't want to admit to talking to.

So where do you go from here?

Back to the doc, I guess! Maybe a burnt onion can help the navigator, if not clear up the rest of the gas.

You think you'd better not push this any further right now. It's too easy to stumble onto a subject that makes her nervous. Best to excuse yourself and start actually pursuing some of these leads.

"Well, it's been fun catching up, but I'm starting to really worry about Lex. I think I'll head to the infirmary and see if something's holding him up there."

"Good luck," Colleen says. She seems visibly relieved. "If he turns up here before I'm done, I'll tell him that's where you are."

"Thanks. See you whenever we next work together."

"Ah, yeah. See you!"

You probably gave her a lot of stress. Still, you gossip with her often enough that she probably doesn't suspect you were looking for information. You hope she's not too deeply involved in whatever's going on.

You walk off and head down to the infirmary. There seems to be a bit of a line, with Lex in the middle of it. And strangely, the main door is closed.

You walk up to Lex.

"What's the delay here?"

"Hells if I know. The others say the line hasn't moved in an hour. I was just thinking of heading back anyways..."

Suddenly, the door opens, and the captain walks out holding a cloth over his eye. He walks off without a word. Donnie glances out at the assembled crowd.

"Oh dear. Um, terribly sorry for the delay. Well, I'll try to move this as fast as I can, depending on how serious the problems are of course..."

"I'm thinkin' we shouldn't bother hangin' around," Lex says. "We'll just slow things down for the people who really need to be here."

"Probably for the best," you agree. But you haven't thought about what to do instead yet.

You and Lex step out of the line. First step is to fill him in. You figure it's probably best to go somewhere a bit less crowded, though.

"So what happened over at the kitchen?" Lex asks.

You explain that you managed to talk your way in, and discovered a printing press. You also show him the burnt onion.

"Hmm." He looks concerned. "The thing is, you have to burn them about that much to get the most out of boiling them for the gas. So it wouldn't have much left to benefit from boiling."

"There were about a dozen of these in the trash. You think maybe he was cooking up the gas, then?"

"A dozen wouldn't be enough for that. It'd take about three dozen to get a significant amount." Lex looks thoughtful. "But now that I think about it... boil more than you need, stop partway through, burn a dozen all the way while mixing in the other stuff, which is less edible but needs to be added while at least some onions are boiling. Then you can still use the onions for cooking, as long as you get rid of them fast."

"By putting them in the stew," you realize. "But why do it at all? It can't be for Donnie's benefit, or he'd have just told me that's what it was."

Lex frowns.

"I can only think of two answers, both worrying. Either he knows someone who's been hit by glaxin gas and he's trying to keep that fact hidden... or it's to get rid of evidence. Clear all traces of glaxin from whatever place it was prepared in."

"Well, let's not get carried away. We can't actually prove he did that, rather than what he said about burning them by mistake and not wanting the whole ship gossipping about it."

"Right, right," Lex agrees. "So we should proceed carefully. Maybe it'd be best to just tell the captain what we found out and let him handle the investigation, while we get back to just cleaning up the gas. That's where this started, after all."

He's got a point there. It's not really your job to find out what's going on, even if what you've already stumbled onto has made you curious.

You should give some thought to what to do next.

Check with the ship's botanist to see if any local sargassum tastes like onions and could be used as a viable substitute.

"Oh, wait," you say. "All this time I was just thinking about how members of the crew could help us. Keep forgetting we've got a passenger."

Lex looks puzzled.

"What, the grebling with the plant fixation? How can she help?"

"She doesn't just study plants, she eats them. If we're going to boil up a bunch of onions, maybe she's got something that tastes similar among her seaweed samples."

"Would be hard to get more unless it happens to be stuff that's around here," Lex mutters. "But then, I guess we won't know unless we ask." Then he glances around. "Say, she's staying near Ms. Rebecca's room, isn't she?"

"That's right, because neither of them is a member of the crew."

Lex nods.

"Well, good, because I was just thinking that we need to check in with Billie, who probably hasn't been running around half as much as we have. Unless the carpenter was throwing a party too." He chuckles. "So I figure we should go back and check in before we try anything else."

"Sounds sensible," you agree. "Especially since they're both in the same place."

You start walking back. Somewhere along the way, you hear a lot of noise; probably the party wrapping up. But you aren't near the galley, so you don't actually see anyone leave.

When you get back to the room, you see Billie waiting outside, along with the carpenter, and... wait, who's that third person with them?

It's Resk, the second mate.

You recognize Second Mate Resk just in time to salute as he faces you. He looks even more grim-faced than usual.

"Afternoon, sir! What brings you here?" you ask.

"Your plan, if I understand Mr. Billie's explanation correctly," he says. "Did you really think you could make such extensive modifications without approval from an officer?"

Figures he'd be upset. He wasn't too thrilled the last time you had an idea like this. You got the distinct impression he would have preferred to let the ship keep taking on water.

"We were making sure the plans were viable first," you say. "Wouldn't do much good to get permission for a plan if it turns out we don't have enough onions for it in the first place, right?"

Resk doesn't look any more pleased. Then again, he doesn't look any less pleased either, so it's hard to tell what he's thinking.

"Well, fortunately the ship's carpenter has a stronger sense of responsibility than you do. Immediately thought to check. So I'm here to see the scene for myself."

"Huh. Surprised they asked you," you say. "I heard you were at Lou's birthday party."

Well, now he looks more upset.

"I was supervising the party, yes," he says, clearly annoyed. "But the other mates and the captain were busy too. My task just happened to be the least important, especially as the party was nearly over. So I thought my attention would be better directed to this matter."

"Well, you're going to need a breather mask, then. There's still gas in there."

In fact, it's quite strange he doesn't have one already. Unpleasant as he is, when he actually does manual work he's well-prepared for it. Not to mention meticulous. You're surprised he didn't already ask what he'd need.

"Neither of you mentioned that," he says, turning to Billie and the carpenter. So maybe he did ask after all.

"Ah, sorry. Um, I'll lend you mine?" Billie asks nervously. He takes it off his neck and hands it to the second mate.

"For the sake of expediency, I suppose I'll accept. Ms. Sally, as this was your plan, I'll have you come in with me to explain it. Once Mr. Billie has instructed me in the proper operation of this device, of course."

Ugh. You're pretty sure any of the other officers would have just accepted after a few simple questions. But of course Resk has to make a big production out of it. Plus you've got to get your own damn breather mask on.

Well, you suppose you might be able to sneak in a question about the party to him, at least. He's likely to be a lot more careful than Colleen was, but he was also right in the middle of the action. If the question seems innoccuous enough, he might actually answer it.

So what should you ask?

Good stew, wasn't it?

"So how was the stew?" you ask casually.

"Too salty. If I wanted that much salt I'd have a bowl of seawater," Resk grumbles, as Billie finishes adjusting the breather mask. "Now let's get moving."

You get your own mask on and follow him in. He motions to you to shut the door; you do so.

Then he walks over to the closet.

"So the source of the gas is in there?" he asks.

"That's what I heard. Haven't actually seen it for myself, since that would mean letting the gas out."

He stares at the door silently for a while.

"This door is briskwood," he says finally. "Expensive stuff. If we cut a hole in it, that's a few thousand gold worth of good wood wasted. I can't approve that kind of expense."

Figures it'd be expensive. This is a VIP room. Probably got refitted on the sponsor's dime. But you also know Resk is the only officer who'd even be concerned about that when there's a deadly gas on the other side.

"Easy enough, then. We cut through the wall instead. Or are you going to tell me that despite looking like regular old shipwood, the walls are made of something else?"

He looks almost disappointed.

"I'll consider that option," he concedes. "But there's still the matter of the pipe. We don't have a lot of that, and using some of our precious supply to get the gas out would contaminate it. I can't accept such a use of scarce resources."

Hmm, you may need to think a bit harder on how to respond to that one.

Hmm... What's *under* this cabin/the closet? And above it?

"Well, the main thing we need the pipe for is to keep the gas from getting into the room. We could fill up a bag with just a tiny bit of pipe, but then we'd have to get it out of the room without bursting it."

"What are you getting at?" Resk asks, annoyed.

"Well, we don't actually have to have the bag in the room. We could go from above, or below, or even the sides. Just remove the outer wall until we reach the inner one, make a hole and shove a tiny length of pipe in there and attach the bag. Thing is, I don't spend much time in this part of the ship, so I'm not sure just what's in each direction."

"We're not going through the back," Resk says sternly. "That connects to the closet in my quarters."

"True, that wouldn't do us any good. We'd just be moving the gas from one closet to another. What else is there?"

"The right side leads to the hall. The left side goes into another closet, but nobody's in that room."

"We've got an empty room up here?" you ask, surprised. "Considering how much went into refitting this ship, I'm surprised."

"We were expecting another VIP passenger, but they never showed by departure time. I'm less sure about what's above or below, I only know the surrounding area because my room's here. It doesn't help that we're above deck, where the levels aren't uniform in size. They get smaller and smaller, so part of this level is directly below the captain's quarters, and the rest is below open air."

"Well, if this closet happens to be under open air, that'd be perfect."

"Hold on there," Resk interjects. "If it is exposed to air, it might be more expensive wood. So I'll have to look into that, too."

You get the distinct feeling that he just doesn't want anyone else to be enthusiastic. You still can't imagine him at a party.

"Is that all, then?" you ask. "If it comes down to checking what's above and below, I'm not sure what else we can do in here."

"There's one more thing to take care of before we go," Resk says.

Dust for prints!

Resk pulls a small bottle out of his pocket. He opens it up to reveal an odd powder.

"From what I understand, Ms. Rebecca never used this closet. The navigator opened it during the cleaning attempt." He sprinkles the powder over the knob. "And you all wouldn't have opened it because of the box inside. So chances are, the only other person to touch the knob is our culprit."

Small prints show up on the knob.

"These are 'fingerprints'," Resk explains. "New idea getting some interest back home just before we left. They say everyone's prints are unique. Of course, it'd take days to check the whole crew, but they can help with confirming suspects..."

He takes a closer look.

"Then again, some things you don't even need to examine that closely," he continues. "Look at these tiny marks here. You know what those are?"

You shake your head.

"Grebling claw marks. That narrows our suspect list quite a bit. Unfortunately I don't think we can tell one grebling from another by the claw marks, but that's a pretty good place to start." He seems almost satisfied. "Right, we're done here for now."

He starts to walk out. You're just about to follow when something catches your eye.

Is it bugs? It's bugs, isn't it?

Most of the dead bugs have been cleared out of the room, save for a pile of them in one corner. And you think you spotted something stirring in that corner.

You walk over for a closer look. Are some of the bugs still alive, despite the gas? That seems unlikely, but you can't shake the feeling that something's odd...

As you approach, a rat leaps out of the pile of inside-out bugs and lands on you. And it starts gnawing at the tube on your breather mask.

You grab it, but its grip seems strong. You're about to call for help, but you notice that Resk has left... and shut the door behind him.

Well, that's rude of him. Now what?

You don't really need the breather mask on now anyway, right? Remove the respirator and rattle and rotate it to repel the rabid rodent.