Ship’s Notes: Expeditions

I need to impress upon Captain Zheng that it is polite, courteous, and probably wise to check in at regular times.  When it got to be nighttime on the planet, I was expecting a call, but no, apparently he was too distracted from all the sights and wonders he was seeing (apparently the inside of a barn is interesting to him).  And then he continued to completely forget to contact me for the next day, until rather late at night.

There ought to be some manner of rules and protocol for when my crew goes off to elsewhere.  For all I knew, they had all gotten hypothermia and died.  Perhaps regular check-in times, and splitting the crew so that at least a few people are left in me?  I need to tell it to the captain, and make sure he tells it to Landerson – if nothing else, Landerson is a stickler for rules and good protocols, and will make sure that everyone else does not forget to check in.

On the other hand, the expedition has led to some interesting discoveries.  For one, the history of this world. (To save on time, the captain forwarded his journal entries which contained a brief description, but I expect a full explanation from him later on, and, ideally, for Susana to write another one of those excellent, thorough reports.)  Another discovery is that, while the translation software isn’t perfect, it does recognize the language as a form of Canadian, enabling future trade and communication.

More important is the state of politics here.  Working from the captain’s log, I surmise that the original genetically-modified caste system from New Montreal survives here quite well, due to the caste system turning into traditions of bloodline purity for rulers.  This would explain the helpfulness and subservience of the farmers the expedition met earlier, among other things.

However, there is no cohesive planetary government (in fact, such would be impossible given the speed of probable communication methods).  I suspected a hierarchy of lords, based on pre-revolutionary New Montreal, and asked the captain to find out.  He was able to confirm the existence of higher lords than the lord of Whitevale – essentially the ruling caste of the generation ship ‘Vancouver’ interbred into one big family, and that family controls a vast swathe of territory.  Moreover, primogeniture ensures that there is a very detailed hierarchy within the family, right up to the High King of Vancouver himself.

With that in mind, we should be opening up relations with the high king (and his probable counterpart from the Calgary), not with some minor lord here in the middle of nowhere.  I conveyed this to the captain, and he agreed to ask about the location of the capital, and then return so I can fly everyone there.  (I suppose the engineers will argue for going on foot, as to spare me damage, but I’d rather be at least relatively close to my crew.  Additionally, I would like for the negotiations with the High King to be held in one of my cargo holds so I can see and listen directly.)

Hopefully he will message me again soon (rather than getting distracted) and everyone will return so we can fly over to wherever the High King lives.