Did he keep contact with his wife..? Nova processed everything slowly, until finding the picture of Hemlock with the man, who she assumes is Casper. Casper...? On a datapad separate from the one containing the Order connections, she took note of the things she found. She also closely studied the relics, trying to figure their origin for herself.
"Nova to operatives, once Hemlock is finished with answering Saders questions, have the XO brought in, I have a few questions for her. And have someone watch Hemlock and make note of his interactions between those above him in chain of command, and those not. His interactions with the crew should not be noted during this. Nova out."
One other thing she needed to know. When Nova had spoke to him, he was, relatively, calm. But when speaking to Admiral Sader, his tone quickly shifted. She wanted to know what caused this. Nova ran through the options, while studying the unknown relics.
As she studied the relics, one of them, a small rounded stone, in the top left corner of the case began to dimly glow, as if.. enticed by her presence. There seemed to be a small notebook next to it, with the words 'Notes on the Stone' scratched onto the front of it. The others surrounding it, mainly consisting of fragments of metal and a small cube of some glossy substance, began to shiver somewhat, but only slightly. "You are not Him.." A light, scratchy voice echoed in her mind, but only enough for the words to be heard. Once they were stated, the voice grew silent.
Nova scanned the room for another presence she missed, her hand firmly on her sidearm. After ensuring she was alone, she eyed the stone that glowed intently, before scanning the case's surroundings, finding the notebook. Just what was that...
Nova picked the book up and opened it to read it's contents, glaring back to the stone every so often. That certainly was something, once I'm done here I'm having this stone taken to the lab for study. Nova kept reading the notes, trying to find out what the stone was, and why it's been kept. Though she did feel a sense of urgency, as if something could happen, and flipped the safety off her holstered weapon.
"Please.. don't.. It's nice and peaceful in here..." The voice, once again, spoke through her mind, the stone seeming to glow somewhat more vibrantly, albeit only slightly, as she continued to read the notes.
The notes themselves were rather brief on what the stone was believed to be. It was no doubt alien in origin, but from what could be told so far, it was an unusually attentive stone. As for the notes, they seemed to be fairly well kept, perhaps even newer than most of the items in his study. The dating itself, which read 'Late 823' would place it right about the time of the Shamrock Bay's 'humanitarian mission'. 'I found this odd rock near Emma's remains. While I'm certain it's alien in origin, I can't help but feel that I should bring it with me. It's a small stone, with some small marking on the upper hemisphere, but otherwise is just that.. a stone. I keep hearing these strange voices, which might be the nightmares creeping into my daytime, but they seem more.. real. I'm going to try and see what Addie can deter from it, but I highly doubt it's anything he's dealt with before.'
Nova looked at the stone briefly, then paged through for the closest entry to today. As she looked, she raised an eyebrow in curiosity. A stone that doesn't want me to have my safety off? Although suspicious, she turned the weapons safety back on, looking over the case for a way to open it and look over the odd item, and find the marking on the stone.
This could explain Hemlocks hostility, and uneasiness about trusting anyone but his crew. He is right, it's definitely alien. However, the only other time I experienced something like this was... Nova recalled her first encounter with Nomads. They had won the battle that ensued, but for them to be able to create images and 'speak' within her mind, this stone reminded her of it. I have to be very careful with this.
'None of the scientists on Carthage could make out the marking, nor did they seem to want to. I guess my only other option is to try and sail back to Liberty and see how the LSF does with it. Might take some smooth talking, considering what that damned Zoner put in our computer, but I really want to know what this stone is. It's been talking to me in my quarters for nigh on five months now, and that raspy voice is really getting on my nerves.'
"He is trustworthy... but to an extent.. I believe you could calm him like his friend does.. Commune well.. there is danger afoot.." The voice again spoke to her, but silenced itself immediately afterwards, the glow slowly fading away as the stone returned to it's former place. Whatever this thing was, it clearly had some sort of motive.
Nova was now interested. These notes also proved another thing, the connections to the Order have an ulterior meaning other than defecting to them. The Commune..? I've encountered some of them.. a bunch of Cardimine sniffers, an insane bunch like the rest of them. But.. why is this stone.. speaking to me? I shouldn't have gone to Sader yet, how stupid of me! Nova knew Sader would only be going off the assumption of Hemlock and his people defecting to the Order, rather than waiting for a more clear picture, he didn't have anything else.
Nova scanned the room once more. Danger afoot..?"Operatives at the CO quarters door, hold anybody attempting to enter, and tell me once someone arrives, only I will provide clearance, I don't care if it's Sader, Jones or the President out there, hold them." Nova picked up the tattered book with the Eye of Ra. As she read the pages, her mind kept drifting back to the stone. It was alluring, it had her curiousity, yes, but now it had her attention. She wanted to know what it was, and where it came from. If it was a Nomad artifact, it had to be studied immediately. But Nova had no way to know right now, the Nomads were not her area of expertise.
No matter how much she tried, her thoughts drifted back to the stone, it would eventually become too much and she'd have the lab prepared to take it in for study. For now, she set the book down, and flipped back a couple pages in the notes for context on this 'Carthage'.
As if perfectly on time, Hemlock's XO came from down the hallway, walking towards Hemlock's quarters. She slowed her pace once she neared the door, eyeing the two outside with a a slight touch of caution. 'Why were they there? What could they be doing in his room?' She pondered these, stopping near them. "Hey.. what's happening?" For Hemlock's XO, she didn't seem to assume much, nor did she seem too upset that someone was supposedly rummaging through her CO's things.
The book with the Eye of Ra emblazoned on it we relatively unrelated as she skimmed through it. From what words were left, it seemed to be an attempt to record the main efforts of the Order, all leading up to the fabled attack on Planet Toledo. If it weren't for the fact that she was desperately searching for answers, it might have been a good read, but the book itself, in it's tattered shape, was of little to no help regarding the stone. The notes, however, weren't much help with context either. It didn't go into any detail about what 'Carthage' was, all built from what Hemlock supposedly knew, but it did seem to point to the idea that he was at least familiar with the Order's actions out in the deep Omicrons.
One thing was certain, though. There was far more to all this than anyone had said so far.
One operative spoke quietly into his comm device while the other spoke up. "Agent Nova is currently conducting a search. Are you here to enter?" His tone was strictly business, following his orders. Nova set the book down and continued to look upon the stone. It's certainly strange. It has to be the key to something in this investigation. These connections to the Order are plentiful, but these notes reinforce the story that a Zoner had forced on the Order registration to the ship, why would he lie in it? Who else would see it.
Nova received word of the XO arriving. "Keep her for the moment, I'm not finished in here yet." She resumed her search for a way to open the case and get a hold of the stone. She had to get at it. Her curiosity peaked, she wanted a close look at it, and to know, how it could 'speak' to her.
The operatives at the door kept their stance. "Sorry, Ma'am, orders are to not allow you enter just yet."
The display case didn't seem to budge if she tried to pry it open. There were two locks on the front, both clearly keyholes, but of an odd design, perhaps even custom. Aside from those, there didn't seem to be any other alternatives to getting in save for smashing the glass, but that itself would leave Hemlock furious should he return, let alone the stone missing. "He.. has the means.. the solution.. to this containment..." The stone spoke once more, it's pattern of speech somewhat unusual for a relic of it's nature. The fact that it could speak was strange to begin with, but perhaps it held more than just conversation.
"She's conducting a search? All I know that's in there are just a bunch of dusty books, some novelties from before his service and that weird ball thing he found. Surely there isn't more?" She crossed her arms, leaning back on the other side of the fairly tight hallway. "Alright.. I guess I'll wait, then.."