To: Nesrin Khan | From: Ezrael Vertiga

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ID: Ezrael Vertiga
Location: Omega-49
Subject: About you
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You really have an enjoyable way of talking, Nesrin. Reminds me both of Raven with her waffles and that one guy that played my nurse when I collapsed on the Eidolon Wraith. Of course, you're talking way less vulgary than the latter. I believe he was a perfect example of libertonian proletariat.

K'hara exposure syndrom. You don't have a dossier on that? I remember my first days in the Core, when I commanded a bunch of Core rookies on the Apahanta. That was before the Dyson Sphere became active. The deeper we got into the nomad controlled space, the more crew members got headaches, nose-bleeding and went completely insane. I never really found out why that happened, and once I had a regular crew rotation - without 'rookies' from Alabama, if you get what I mean - that never happened again. Is there a connection to what you were talking about? And, they are actually a couple? I knew it. Maren and I were wondering all the time whether those two are a couple or not. Not that it is important, but you know, every now and then it's enjoyable to think about that. Hunt and Raven... cute.

Explains a bit to me, though. Everyone on the ship seemed to be very well aware of what was happening to us. Mini-Mindshare. Oh god, must be a pain in the ass once you have a pervy in that link. Like, there once was a bigger K'haran Mindnode called Sovereign in Omicron Delta. Hunt and Raven surely remember that day. Sovereign asked for a mindmelt, as it would make the talk easier. To be honest, I still regret I did it, but the experience I made during that was helpful, as I learned that there are nomads out there that actually try to understand humans better. Sovereign, for example, wanted to know what love is. Now try to explain that to an alien when you're a guy that may had a three digit amount of girls on Curacao, but never was in a relationship, back then. I think I failed in telling Sovereign the essential things about it. And, my god, the weird thought of "Just don't think about something perverted!" during that entire encounter.

Say, is there any instance that watches Auxesia? I mean, who watches the watchers? Maybe I make a mistake by asking you, but I can't think of anything that would prevent Auxesia from simply taking the Apahanta, as there is only a skeletal crew and a few mortar shots between them and it, I guess. I've seen how questionable a friendly relationship to Auxesia is. A few rumors were enough to have them working completely against me, making the Lane Hackers turning hostile to me, Bretonia being suspicious of me and maybe they spread even more rumors about me. When I was there, on the Wraith, Hunt wanted to bargain about what they would get for sharing the truth about me not being infected. Like, they make accusations I never would be able to defend myself of. K'hara exposure syndrom? Non-aggression-pact with Vagrants? The only that prevents me from spreading that in Bretonia would be the little bit of trust I have in you and your trust in what Raven might be able to pull off. And let's be honest: I have no intention in telling people such things. What Auxesia does is maybe interesting, but not really my concern. The same it should be the other way around, but I guess a guy with a ship that is barely operable as it is crewed with twenty humans is so much more dangerous than twenty humans operating twenty bombers...

Urgh, I shouldn't rant about that the entire time. Sorry about that.

Oh, now that I remember it. Seem's like you have a misconception about Curacao. Most tourists only visit the primary islands. But there are also the secondary and tertiary islands. The primary islands are what you see in the media. Clubs, casinos, resorts, hotels, all the places for tourists. The secondary islands are open to tourists as well, but the OSC personnel and Curacao-borne people like me live there as well. Those islands are usually way more quiet, still pretty idyllic, and they are way cheaper, as the OSC people have to live there as well. And then there are the tertiary islands, where you will never see tourists, but only the families of OSC personnel. I guess it's noted in the Auxesian intelligence dossier about me, but before I left Curacao to join the Core, I used to be a biology and physical education teacher on a curacaoan college. Times were easier back then. Much easier. Anyway, you really shout visit the secondary islands. Neo-Lagun, to be precise. You'd surely love it there. White beaches, planetform-filtered water, so you could surf there, nice seafood restaurants that serve the finest of the imported maritime wildlife and a good number of nicely shaped women. And men.

Anyway. As soon as I'm get the opportunity, I'll try to find out more about those Vagrants, and maybe you and me can every now and then share our information about them. I wonder how Auxesia managed to get this non-aggression-pact with them, and I wonder if it's something real or just a trick of one of the sides. Whatever it is, we should stay careful, expect the worst but allow us to be positively surprised. I mean, the nomads are, to a certain point, reasonable, with the exception of Ish'tar.

Would also be good if you could keep me informed about Leviathan. Like, we know what we have to think about Golanski, Lyell and all the other people in command. Auxesia however has a special position. I'd like the be sure noone is going to abuse this position.

And good luck with Marie. Her humor surely works well with yours, Nelly.

Ezrael Vertiga