Fishing on the Esquilinus

[James Calmara]

1420
River bank
Esquilanus


Carefully baiting a line in the mid-afternoon sun, Calmara closed his eyes for a moment, soaking up the sun that was beating down on the back of his drab green t-shirt that and the boonie hat were the only militarily-issue parts of his attire, he’d borrowed a pair of local sandals for his feet and had on a pair shorts he’d purchased in the Bahamas. He was thankful it had turned out a good day weather-wise, he wasn’t the only one; the locals were thanking the gods that the expedition’s latest visit was blessed with fine weather.

The Esquilaian culture was an odd mix from an earth point of view. They seemed to have harnessed water power similar to a pre-industrial revolution level and there was a certain level of mechanization. But still retained classical elements in there culture, such as there architecture and there dress. They had been under Olympian control for century’s, and seemed to accept that as their lot in life. Until they began hearing reports of newcomers who opposed the Olympians, the delta expedition, the leaders planed and carried out an uprising. Although this was well planed and well timed, the Olympians were contending with both the delta expedition and a number of uprisings on other worlds at the time, it left there society in ruins as the Olympians killed and destroyed as much as they could before leaving them to fend for themselves as punishment.

An exploration team had come across them several moths ago and quickly learnt what had happened to the Esquilaians. An aid plan was drawn up and over the past few months the expedition has been helping this culture rebuild and get back on its feat.

The supply drop and the measuring for the group that went to the planet, which was possibly the awkward part of the trip, had taken most of the morning. But the Esquilaians did there best to make it as easy and as pleasant as possible. For the fishing trip itself they had provided a number of guides who among other things had made sure they had equipment, and then took them to the best spot, which happened to be about half a mile up river of the capital itself. At present there guides were mingling with them, explaining the basics of how to fish where it was needed, and generally enjoying the company of the expedition members

Calmara was using a borrowed native rod and line, an exquisitely carved wooden rod with a delicately carved wooden reel mechanism. It operated a little different to the sport rods that were available back on earth. But after a little tuition the engineer was beginning to get the hang of it. Thankfully casting a line was done the same way.

He momentarily glanced across at Doc’s Mckillop and Martin who had come on this little trip, and were close by, he was quite sure Major Oxford was near-by also but out of sight at the moment. He ginned at the doc’s before sitting himself down on the bank in a relatively comfortable spot, where he could cast from and still converse with fellow expedition members. Flicking his wrist and arm forward he sent the line snaking through the air and then down in to the river. “Now this is the life. Work and play all rolled in to one neat little package.” He commented allowed, although not to anyone in particular, he was hoping for a response from someone.

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[Kent McKillop]

1420
River bank
Esquilanus

Sergeant Calmara's statement certainly rang true. Since being 'recruited' into the expedition - a term Kent used lightly as he hadn't really had a choice and had been shipped here unwillingly - the archaeologist had been shot at, attacked, captures and almost killed more times than he cared to count. He'd seen worlds be destroyed, cultures destroyed and a war that had raged on for almost three years. It was about as far as the cushy job at a British university that he'd imagined he'd have by this point in his life.

But today was different. He was getting 'paid' - again, very loose use of the term - to sit by the banks of a river and engage in some recreational fishing. The hobby wasn't one he'd brought from Earth, and he had done little more than cast the line in half an hour ago and leave it untouched. Any bait - or god forbid, an actually fish - that was ensnared on his line would be long gone. Yet he was enjoying himself. It was good to be out of the office and off-world without someone trying to kill him.

"I've certainly had much less enjoyable assignments," he responded. In his hands were some local manuscripts that he was browsing. It wasn't 'work' in the sense that he was translating them for the greater good, rather that he was curious about this planet's past and it's people. He really should learn to keep such curiosity in check - it was the reason he'd been dragged into this expedition.

"Were you here on the original mission Sergeant?" Kent asked, curious to know if anyone had been here before. Yes, there it was again, that damned curiosity.

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[Ajay Martin]

1420
River bank
Esquilanus

As a fellow doctor spoke up, regardless of the degree the man had, Ajay faced him after James commented on whatever it had been that he had missed. As of late he had been doing less talking and more listening in his part of getting to know the people around him. It was a safer bet than ticking anyone around him. Since ticking of the he-Garcia, Daffy had decided to just keep to observance.

Checking that his rod was secured, “It’s better than listening to women yap over god knows what,” he took a swing of his drink, something that was local and strong in taste and scent. Certainly it was different to what they had on earth. With some ice and lime this drink would be a must for a party of all types.

Giving a lopsided grin, “I’m all free to hear the tale,” Martin sat with an eager ear and kept an eye on the any bait that would come his way. Then again he had better stuff to do than fish. Then again orders/request had come from Troy – himself; and Ajay wasn’t the one to refuse anything coming directly from the Commander. But he had his research to get done. It was no secret that he was trying to work out how the cloning worked as far as Titan’s were concerned. But he had been on it non-stop ever since he had been here.

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[James Calmara]

1420
River bank
Esquilanus



The comments of agreement from the pair nearby particularly Dr McKillop’s of the natives not trying to remove his head from his shoulders. That must have been an eventful mission Calmara thought to himself, then again the Doc had a self-professed and proven knack for getting himself into trick spots. About to enquire which particular mission and planet that had happened to ‘Killop, as there had to be a story there. The Doc got ahead of him asking about the first mission to this world, Calmara thought for a moment which gave Dr Martin opportunity to express his interest.

“Well are you sitting comfortably. Then I’ll begin.” He stated randomly. “Yeah, well sort of. SD-6 made the first contact, not long after the little side trip to Ida actually. But I was one of those attached as technical support shortly after the exact circumstances had been established.” He broke off when he felt the rod twitch in his hands, probably just a little nibble from a curious little fish, it got away this time. “Where was I. Oh yeah. The people had been under Olympian rule for quite some time, as those documents your reading through probably confirms.” His last comments directed straight at McKillop, still working during a break as ever, well what Calmara saw as work. He continued. “They had risen up, about the time we were taking Akotiri it turns out and about the time a number of other worlds were also rising up. As we know the Olympians withdrew to consolidate their position and regroup and left a mess behind, a real scorched earth scenario.” He broke off his tale for the moment. Giving opportunity for any questions or comments, also just to savour the ‘doing nothing’ part of this trip.

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[Travis Oxford]

1420
River bank
Esquilanus

Arriving with an esky over his shoulder with full of beer can that were chilling inside the box. Travis amused himself with the view and the fact that there were two doctors along for the ride. While he was sure there were better things for him to do around the base, but the list had been over length of his arm. Postponing his own tasks had been a welcome delight. He was planning on not touching them for a while to come. Letting people chase him for things was going to be fun.

“Well, who’s the genius convincing Troy for this?” He looked at the three men. Who seemed to be soaking up the sun, “and away from the two sharp tongue ladies, thank the gods.” Placing the box at his feet he sat on it after taking one out. Captain McKinnon and Doctor Garcia.

“How many are to arrive?” he asked as took a sip, “It just can’t be us.” Hopefully Jerry would decide to take some time out from his wife and; join the boys and fishing.

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[James Calmara]

1422
River bank
Esquilanus


First tiling his head back, then looking round, at the enquiry from a rather familiar voice that was coming from somewhere behind him, he responded. “I had a hand in it sir. Had a chat with the Colonel and he agreed to chalk it up to ‘cultural relations.’” Then carried on explaining the thoughts that led to his request. “I know we could have come up with the appropriate attire from stuff around the city, but this way it’ll be more authentic and we get some down time.” He stretched out for a moment, before lying back on the bank.

“There were plenty of us that came through, me thinks they may have been held up with the measuring up and fitting for our ‘costumes’.” He suggested while still lay down, the interest in this trip had been substantial and Esquilans only had a small number of tailors up and running. “You got another one of thoses?” Calmara asked while sitting up after catching sight of Oxford taking out a bottle.


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[Kent McKillop]

1422
River bank
Esquilanus

Kent listened intently as Sergeant Calmara chronicled his first mission to the planet. Everything he said was mirrored in the parchments that the archaeologist was pouring over, including mention of a dark haired man who the locals referred to after the events as 'Vulcanus' in reference to the Roman god Vulcan, who was linked to the forging of tools. McKillop was pretty certain this was a connection to Calmara and his mechanical skills. The archaeologist grinned and committed the name to memory, planning to announce the return of 'Vulcanus' when they ventured into the township, if only for comical purposes.

By the time he'd finished translating the passage, the conversation had switched to musing over the likelihood that they would be joined by anyone else. "It could be that the dress code for the celebration has put them off," explained Kent. "The toga is actually from the Roman era, not the Classical Greek era we so often observe in this galaxy. It's no doubt an oversight from the higher-ups. Furthermore, the toga was only ever actually worn by..."

The archaeologist let himself trail off.

"I'm sure the other can't be too far away."

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