Concavenator:
Before the day was over, the sergeant strode in again. Her demeanor was neutral and formal, as if Kukri and Giya had been complete strangers she was now addressing for the first time, and only as required by her office. “The bats have arrived”, she said. “I quote the message as follows. 'Yara Taika-Grati, speaking for the Chaatai chapter of the Guild of Natural Philosophers, answers thus: we confirm that Kukri Taika-Daagru is a member of the guild of good repute and sound mind at the last of our knowledge. We do not endorse the actions that resulted in her arrest but are willing to negotiate a bail if necessary. Of this Giya we have no knowledge, but are willing to accept Kukri's vouching for the time being'. End of the message”.
pinkgothic:
“Mildly more acerbic than I was hoping,” Kukri quipped, attempting to loosen the tension of the moment with some quipped levity. “But I suppose it's not every day the Guild receives messages asking for identification of members in custody. I will say it may have taken Yara a bit of effort to describe me of sound mind with such formality; it is quite normal amongst philosophers to have hefty disputes and thus doubt the same.”
Concavenator:
“So I've heard!” the sergeant replied, a note of amusement in her voice despite all. “You're a puzzling sort, you philosophers. I suppose I should say that with your guild vouching for you, and you vouching for your pupil in turn, I have no more concerns and you are free to go your way. Free to go you are,” (and here Giya gasped) “but I have learned of concerning things nonetheless. With your permission – so to speak – we would keep an eye on your work, philosopher Kukri Taika-Daagru and apprentice Giya”.
pinkgothic:
“Of course,” Kukri said, wholly amicable about it. As long as they were free to leave, there was no particular threat about it, and the way it had been worded was rather more that of curiosity - an emotion she understood, especially paired with scepticism - and so it was frankly worth encouraging, not trying to prevent. “It would be poor philosophy indeed if it did not lend itself to scrutiny.”
Concavenator:
Now the sergeant's voice and posture became somewhat sterner. “I'm glad for your agreement, because if you have spoken the truth – I must agree now that you were sincere; it's not up to me to decide if you are correct – then your work is truly a grave matter. Perhaps one that should be not be left up to disputes and debates – but we shall see. At any rate, I'll have your luggage returned to you, and then you will be free to go. Although I must recommend you to pick more carefully your travel companions. There are officers less understanding than I”.
pinkgothic:
Past her acknowledging nodding, Kukri pondered aloud: “I don't suppose you could point us to some? As you can tell from the manner you came to be acquainted with us, it's not my field of expertise, and I, too, would prefer not to make a fool of myself and my apprentice a second time, frankly wholly independent of whether the consequences would or would not be any less or more unpleasant.” Frankly she still didn't know what precisely they had even been doing - she didn't make a habit of looking into people's cargo unprompted, so any smuggled wares were mostly left to her imagination.
Concavenator:
A shrug. “I suppose one learns to see it. Perhaps this sort of discernment not a common skill in your halls, though I wonder if your discreet apprentice could not have learned it by necessity. Until then, you might want to be content with public transportations and licensed drivers”.
pinkgothic:
So they were far enough back into civilisation that that was an option! Kukri had frankly not had enough of a sense of distance to have assumed as much. Yakak'ratu had given them no choice but to guess blindly, but if this was better-connected to the trade transport network, all the better. “Are there any that would take the word of a philosopher for later payment?” she asked with some crinkled amusement. She still had a bit of money to spend once her belongings were returned to her, but it was certainly the very last of what she had brought, and she had no clear sense of how much it would cost to get back to Grikaa.
Concavenator:
The sergeant tilted her head in amusement for an instant. “I doubt so”, she said, “unless you can get them an official note from the chapterhouse that they could appeal to. If you cannot pay, perhaps you can work it off in the stations, help clean the engine or refill the water tanks or such. It's not really philosopher work, though, is it. Else, there will probably be legitimate freight going to Grikaa, that might or might not take passengers. But I would recommend checking their authorization first, this time”.
pinkgothic:
Kukri chuckled mildly. Their common amusement at the poor luck with travel felt good, even if it was very much at her own expense - the humour defused more of the tension from before. “Well, no time like the present to see how to get myself and my protégé into trouble next,” she mused. Her leg complained mildly at her as she shifted her weight, and so she asked, remembering that she would also have to carry her belongings: “How far a walk is it to the next sleds?”
Concavenator:
“If you insist on sleds, there should be some leaving a day-sixth before dawn”, the sergeant replied, using the messy ancient timekeeping system. It was not much later. “You should be in Grikaa before it's dark again. This settlement is not large; just go to the square behind the logging houses. They are not guaranteed to have room, and if they do, you might have to share it with penguin bucks. The noise and smell, I'm told, are less than pleasant. But it will get you back”.
pinkgothic:
“I would much rather insist on something else, but all humour aside, my resources are quite thinned from the expedition,” Kukri remarked, a little more seriously this time. She glanced at Giya, her body language trying to encourage her spirit, then glanced back to the sergeant. “Would you lead us to where you've been keeping our belongings?”
Concavenator:
The sergeant nodded and turned. “Of course. Your baggage, you will understand, has been thoroughly searched, but you should have all your provisions and your philosophical notes returned. Weapons, of course, have been unloaded, and I am afraid we do not return ammunitions; but you will not find yachakri from here to Grikaa”.
pinkgothic:
“And a good thing that's true,” Kukri mused. “We had the misfortune of seeing two of them on the expedition and I would rather never see a single one of them again.” Mighty creatures they had been, though, but that had involved more stress hormones than she had any desire to be exposed to in the passable future. Either way, she nodded amicably - the lost ammunition hurt a little, but as long as she made it home to Grikaa with Giya, it was simply an inconvenience. “As for the disarray from a search,” she commented. “It isn't likely to be worse than the one our belongings started in.” Technically that wasn't true, but it was a platitude she was willing to indulge in for the sake of maintaining the levity they had been allowing between themselves.
Concavenator:
“I'm glad to hear that”. They walked across a narrow corridor to a little wooden door, in which the sergeant slid a notched keyplate that had been hanging from her neck. Behind the door all of Kukri's baggage lay in a pile, open but intact; the rifle, conspicuously empty, was propped against a wall; and the notes had been piled on top of a box, crudely bound with twine; out of order, but with no obviously missing part.
Giya asked: “I take the baggage, now? Are we going to Grikaa?” Her body language was stiff, as if she feared a disappointing answer and was preparing to hide her reaction.