>The cruise went fairly smoothly, all told. Lucas and Admiral Garibaldi were somewhat of an oddity, it seemed, but people readily accepted the "distinguished gentleman and his young caretaker doctor" story. Too readily, it seemed. A flock of mother hens close to Garibaldi's age (who were on a "girls' trip") fought amongst themselves to be the one to push his chair, and at any time there seemed to be at least a few young, attractive women hanging around talking to Lucas. Despite the motherly women around, Garibaldi's health improved over several days, and he was soon taking short walks and had a healthy appetite. Lucas dutifully stayed near Garibaldi, indulging himself only one evening to have dinner with a particularly sweet young lady who was on study break with her friends from her university.
>The ship made its scheduled stopovers at the two space stations, and then headed towards the rainforest moon of Garen V. As the ship was making its docking maneuvers, Lucas got them ready to go ashore. "What do you think, sir? Fishing, or a little beach time?"
>"A little beach time. It had been a while since I could lay on the beach and read and relax."
"Sounds good to me, sir." When their turn in the queue came up, Lucas gave the transporter chief their location selection.
"Back on board by 1830 hours, please," the chief infomed them.
They were transported to the designated beam-in spot a short jaunt from the beach. A shady path took them to the shore. This was a relatively untrafficked beach; the planet was itself uninhabited except by some rainforest creatures, and owned by the cruise company, so cruise guests were able to request private beaches for themselves. While it might seem terribly romantic to some, this was a business trip for Lucas and Garibaldi.
After they got themselves situated, they started waiting. It wasn't an unpleasant wait. The water - which was a pale golden color on this planet - was warm and gentle, the sun wasn't too hot, and there was a mild breeze which sounded the Chimes, an atmospheric phenomenon this planet was famous for. Lucas passed the time reading and swimming a little. Soon after serving Garibaldi a picnic lunch ("no sorry, sir, I didn't bring any wine") the water in front of them rippled a little. Slowly, so as not to cause any alarm, a single figue rose walking from the water. Despite the slow speed, Lucas and Garibaldi were both on their guard immediately.
The figure was a Venasian male, with that strange ageless quality so it was impossible to tell how old he was. Like all Venasians, he had the intensely blue, gold-flecked eyes, dark hair, and the vestigial webbing between his fingers. He wore simple, albeit wet, nondescript clothing, and appeared to carry no weapon. "Peace, friends, and gentle tides to you," he said in Standard, holding up his hands, "I am not him, but I've been sent to confirm your identity."
Garibaldi, who had been seated nibbling on a carrot while reading a novel, stood. This is what he had been waiting for. An opportunity to meet with the VLF, Venasian Liberation Front. While the wait was very plesant, it was now over. Time for work.
"Gentle tides to you, friend. I am Marcus Garibaldi, and my companion is Lucas Ryan. What can we do to put your concerns over our identity at ease?" Garibaldi was friendly and open both in tone and body language. He wanted to be sure that nothing about his actions threatened the new comer to the beach party.
{response}
Co-GM of the Spacedock/JSOC Game Characters: Adm. Samuel Lasiter, RAdm. Markus Garibaldi, Ambassador Marconis, LCDR Donovan Black, and a host of others.
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