Mid-day, after Dr. Roho has busily treated Mircus for an overexposure to the lingering malodorous chemicals saturating the Paquebot, he has produced a set of cloth masks and several spares which can be (crudely) fitted over noses and muzzles; these ought to permit the intrepid explorers to move through the paquebot, as long as the compartments are opened to fresh air. His dire warnings seem to have gone past glazed eyes however, causing a now-familiar sigh.

Captain Sendrick has formed the 'down-below team', which is to say, a group made up of Chiaroscuro and Pawtuxet as those who have been to the Paqueot before, Dr. Roho, his assistant Naomi, Mircus the map-maker, Envoy and Pawtuxet who are to observe the state of the Paquebot for future reclamation, and two Savanite slaves. They, he declares, are to go into the Paquebot, locate the weapons cache, and transfer it to somewhere where it can be off-loaded by the crew of the ship. If there are any lingering dangers, they should be dealt with as best as they can – and, as he constantly points out, he is not going to risk more crew doing a job that the 'down-below' party should be perfectly capable of doing.

Chiaroscuro ties his mask on tightly, adjusting his clothes… and faces towards the doors leading inside the paquebot. He fingers his Rikkorel, saying a soft chant-like prayer.

Envoy ties her mask behind her neck bandit-style.

The poodle shouts from the deck, "Time to get going, you lazy land-livers! D'you think we're out on a cruise or something?"

Roho ignores the poodle as he ties his own mask on- bringing his useful senses down to two, hearing and touch.

Envoy looks into the gloomy warehouse, and asks, "Will it be safe to use lanterns or torches?"

Mircus finishes securing the (minty smelling!) mask, and, grumbling under his breath about the captain, waits for someone else to go in there first.

Naomi gets the mask over her nose as best she can without mussing her headfur up too much. Said nose wrinkles beneath the cloth as she looks at the captain. She falls into step by Roho.

Chiaroscuro turns to Mircus. "Where do the maps say we should go, Mircus?" he asks in a mask-muffled voice.

Envoy checks on the Savanites' masks.

Ahead, the half-illuminated cavern of the main warehouse on this docking arm awaits. Shafts of light filter through hazy clouds of what Doctor Roho says are very fine particles of some substance that is particularly fond of clogging creatures' lungs – which is to say, to the layman, noxious smoke. The interior promises to be particularly dark – which is why Sendrick has issued the party three enclosed oil lamps, which flicker.

Envoy takes one of the lamps and goes inside the warehouse.

The Savanites follow the others with trepidation, their mute muzzles covered by the bluish-white masks.

Mircus' eyes screw closed for a moment at Chipper's question, "Uhm… Thattaway, I think," he indicates. "We've got to get to the center of the paquebot first. ."

Chiaroscuro nods, and walks along next to Envoy and Mircus, keeping his eyes alert.

As Envoy takes the lead, the light from her lantern washes over a sunlight-spackled deck which has been broken in places here and there, only barely illuminating the ink-dark sea that washes back and forth beneath the docking arm.

Envoy pauses to shine the light at the edges of some of the holes, to see if they are rotted or chewed.

Pawtuxet follows the troop inside the paquebot, after strapping on her minty fresh mask.

Roho follows along behind, moving very slowly, testing the ground carefully with his staff.

Debris accumulates from broken crates and scattered cargo as the group makes its way through; dried jerky bits crack like twigs beneath Mircus's and Pawtuxet's feet. Shattered segments of wooden catwalks have fallen against the floor to partially block some of the aisles through the crates.

Envoy sets down the lamp and scrapes some of the rotted wood into a small glass jar, and also takes a sample of the sea water.

The holes appear to have been burst upward… but by what unknown force? The rest of the deck feels solid enough, creaking and swaying only a little in the water.

Just ahead looks to be several smaller doors, one at ground level (such as it is) and the other reachable by stairs, leading up to warehouse administrative offices. Fragments of glass stand like snaggled tooths in the indoor window frames.

Chiaroscuro nimbly keeps his footing, even with his thick protective boots. He glances at Mircus from time to time, in case of directions… and to Envoy, for any possible dangers near her.

Naomi peers about in the disquieting gloom as she follows Roho, watching the flickering shadows. Did one of them move? Is that an arm? Is someone watching me? The Rath'ani tries to get her imagination to calm down.

After sealing and labeling her samples, Envoy picks up the lantern again and heads towards the stairs.

A rope swings slowly back and forth near where Mircus originally tripped and fell on the stairs, the shadow falling across Naomi…

Mircus looks slightly surprised as Envoy heads for the stairs. "Um, Envoy?" He glances towards the lower ground level door.

Envoy shines the light on the stairs, and leans down to examine them, then looks back up, "Yes Mircus?"

Naomi's shriek abruptly cuts itself short, the echo reverberating into the darkness. "Oh, it's just a rope! Hah… ha-ha… does anyfur want me to carry his or her lantern? You all… ah… might want your paws free for more important tasks."

Naomi thinks, . o O (And I won't have to worry about the dark anymore… )

Roho mutters impatiently, "Have a little backbone… as a healer, you'll often have to be up in the front lines."

Rays of sunlight slant slowly inward as the day wends onward, seen through the shutters; the warehouse grows darker save for the lanterns carried by Envoy, Chiaroscuro, and Pawtuxet.

Mircus flinches and nearly bolts at the scream. . Until he hears the explanation. He turns back to Envoy, "If you're planning on heading through the offices, you might want to know that it'd be quicker this way." He indicates the ground level door… Also, the walkway fell through on him, so he doesn't really trust the stairs. Not that he's mentioning that.

Naomi's face crumples behind her mask. "I'm sorry, doctor," she says in a hurt tone. "I've never dealt with anything like this before."

Envoy hmms.

Envoy says, "I can fly up to look in the upper offices though."

The rope swings back and forth as if mocking, the tip ending in a sharp-looking wooden hook from which streaks of decomposed black goop drape.

Roho nods and gives Naomi's shoulder a brief squeeze, "You're doing fine. Just try not to let your imagination go wild, it clouds the judgement in an emergency."

Envoy looks to Chipper to either agree or disagree about checking the offices.

As the foxtaur treads warily through the warehouse, she notices a smooth back gliding through a particularly large hole, just breaking the surface. It could be some of the cetaceans that they'd seen earlier…

Chiaroscuro says quietly, "Be careful, Envoy… " and nods.

"I'll try, Doctor." She begins taking a closer look at the rope that spooked her, to settle herself down.

Envoy nods and flies up to shine her lantern into the upper offices.

Chiaroscuro, meanwhile, follows the path Mircus thinks would be best… after telling one Savanite to wait in the warehouse room for Envoy's return.

Shadows move back and forth as Envoy's lantern casts its flickering light into the windows… Nothing. Only desks, file cabinets, strewn papers, and chairs, some toppled and some not.

The Savanite nods.

Envoy flies back down after her cursory look. "Whatever happened, I think the people upstairs came out in a hurry and caught in it."

Pawtuxet stops, as she notices the smooth movement in the water. She backs a little away and waits for a few moments, in case it's repeated.

Envoy says, "There's no goop up there though."

The door on the ground floor opens onto what looks like a positive pile of furniture that might have been gathered up to barricade it. Holes dot the deck irregularly, here and there, but the corridor leads straight to some faraway destination, the core of the paquebot, and doors and stairways lead off into smaller rooms.

Chiaroscuro nods to Envoy from just at the ground-level door. "The goop does not appear to have been everywhere… the first time, there were goop-free areas I passed here."

Envoy examines the new holes.

They look exactly like the ones that were seen in the warehouse. The edges have been weathered by the passage of time and the lapping of the waves. Scatterings of the 'goop' are dark grayish, like some sort of moss; the door's opening brought forth a cloud of the dust that everyone knows now to avoid, but fortunately the masks appear to almost completely mute the stench.

Pawtuxet eventually tired from watching the blank surface. Whatever caused the motion, seems to be gone, and sticking her head it, to have a look, she ain't. She pads after the group, which has ventured a little further inside.

Envoy furrows her brows, an odd sight considering how the skin pulls around her horn.

Chiaroscuro steps forward, careful as how he plants his feet. He takes a deep breath, lifts his mask, and test-spits at certain areas of goop, to see if they are active or not.

It appears safe enough. Six months is a very long time for any organic chemical to remain dangerous in the open.

Envoy says, "Whatever burst up through the floor doesn't seem to have dragged people back through the holes. There should be more damage if that was the case."

The sounds of the sea echo strangely in the corridor, sounding almost like distant growling.

Envoy hmms… "Unless it was something very sticky perhaps, like a giant ant-eaters tongue."

Naomi, feeling secure enough that the group is close at hand, curiously pokes around the pile of furniture, peeking into drawers and pockets and things.

Chiaroscuro leads the party along, shuddering at Envoy's various suggeststions… but pressing bravely forward.

Envoy pokes the light into the corners, and keeps theorizing. "Or perhaps something similar to a starfish, which has tentacles for grasping but actually extrudes a stomach to envelope it's prey. The goop might be digestive waste… "

A drawer falls out onto the floor from Naomi's incautious inspection. *Kathunk!* It scatters an assortment of lead pencils, feather quills, an inkpot which splashes black across the deck, and some papers.

Envoy hurries over to shine the light on the drawer.

Chiaroscuro's head snaps around at the noise.

The stairs lead up to the second level of the docking arms – the administrative offices that Envoy peeked into, and perhaps more offices farther down. The amount of bureaucracy it takes to run a place like Little Rephidim West is truly phenomenal.

Naomi shies back at the sight of the black ink, then realizes what it is. "Sorry about that!" she calls over her shoulder. "Clumsy, clumsy." She picks up a few papers to have a look at them.

Envoy hmms.

Mircus adjusts his mask yet again and watches curiously.

The title of the first memo that Naomi reads appears to be: "Request for Increased Storage Allotment, Star of Abu Dhabi Trading Line." It's dated three years ago.

The holes become somewhat larger as the group makes its way down the corridor, forcing them to weave from one side of the corridor to the other; the ceiling too has become somewhat damaged, showing what looks like scraping attacks. The doors are almost universally closed except for one that leads into a broom closet, containing assorted cleaning supplies.

Envoy says, "I think if there are any remains to be found, they'll be in the upper rooms. Maybe there is a sea creature that eats like a spider, by injecting the digestive juices into the prey and then sucking them dry. But that should leave at least clothing… and there's not even any chitin knives left."

Roho moves along with the group, quite acutely aware of the number of holes he's detouring around.

The end of Naomi's mask wrinkles as her nose does likewise. "Oh, how boring," she mutters as she leafs through the pages. "I wonder if maybe that nasty stuff came in one of these trade shipments, though? Oh, but that's silly. Nothing this dangerous would be shipped, I guess."

Chiaroscuro shudders at Envoy's speech, and weakly notes to her, "The bodies were intact when I first ventured here… " He grits his teeth, pressing on.

Envoy says, "What state where they in? Did it seem that only moving things were attacked?"

Naomi tosses the junk she's collected to one side as she follows along.

Envoy says, "And will you be able to show us where you found the survivors?"

Several 'Tuit' buttons clatter on the deck.

There's a splash, as Roho's careful tapping finally fails, and he steps through the very edge of one of the holes. His first reflexive action after surfacing is to toss his herbs to dry ground, then he starts scrabbling frantically for an edge…

*SPLOOSH!*

Mircus starts in surprise and moves to see if he can help.

Envoy turns the light back towards the splash.

Chiaroscuro thinks back. "It is hard to say. It seemed… as if there were… " His ears turn at a splash, and he turns back around… "Doctor!"

Naomi squeaks! "Doctor!" She hurries over to Roho to try to pull him up.

The Savanite's tail poits! out in utter surprise.

Roho tries to grab a piece of the deck, which helpfully breaks off in his paws. He goes under for a moment, then surfaces again.

Pawtuxet rushes forward, when the doctor loses his ground! She kneels down by the edge, wary of falling through herself, and reaches out for the fennec.

Chiaroscuro steps back quickly, heading for the doctor… settling his lantern down dropping to all fours to speed up. He stops as he nears the water's edge…

Roho feels a paw fumble for him, and quickly grabs it tightly!

Envoy doesn't try to outrace the others. Instead, she looks up towards the ceiling, searching for ropes and pulleys.

Pawtuxet gets ahold of Roho hand, and closes hers around it. She carefully backs up, mostly on her hind legs, as the planks seem more brittle around the edge.

Chiaroscuro waits as Pawtuxet grabs for the doctor, ready to help if needed…

Roho tries to climb up the arm, apparently very eager to leave the water…

Envoy recovers Chipper's dropped lantern, and waits. It looks like Roho is safe now.

Naomi dances around the gap in the floorboards. "Are you alright, Doctor? Oh, how awful!" She searches around a moment to retrieve Roho's medicine bag.

The water splashes out from the hole in the wake of Roho's rescue, but the fennec seems none the worse for wear, apart from some water that went down the wrong pipe. The ripples splash back and forth, disturbed.

Something heavy hits the deck from beneath!

Envoy says, "Make sure the doctor gets a fresh breathing mask, Naomi."

Envoy blinks at the thump.

Mircus looks startled at the thump, "Maybe we should leave. . I mean; the core shouldn't be that far away now… "

Roho coughs and gags, lying in a puddle on the deck. His mask is somewhere beneath the paquebot, now, but he doesn't seem about to go after it. He slowly gets up onto all fours, still coughing up water.

Chiaroscuro jumps back to a all-fours defensive position… "What… what was that?"

Pawtuxet pulls the doctor further back from the hole, when feeling the bump from underneath.

Mircus edges in the direction of the core, "Unfriendly?" he suggests to Chipper.

Naomi finds Roho's pack lying nearby. "Right away, Lady Envo-… " She loses her balance at the thump, falling on her front. "Oof!"

The water surges about the edges of the hole as if eager to reclaim its victim…

Roho collapses against Pawtuxet at the final tug, a dripping, sodden mass. As he gets his breath a little bit, he coughs out, "Something brushed past me down there… "

Pawtuxet says, "I have no idea… I saw something disturb the surface of another hole, but thought it was merely my imagination."

Naomi crawls back to her feet, clutching the medicine bag and trembling. "W-what was that? One of the whales we saw from the airship?"

Envoy rushes over to shine a lantern into the nearest hole.

The Savanite's fur bottlebrushes out. He signs, "Very bad place," to no one in particular.

The deck cracks beneath Envoy as something heavy strikes the deck again! The planks splinter, and some dark slimey thing can be seen briefly beneath, limned luridly by the lantern's light.

"Do we have a spare mask?" Pawtuxet wonders, as she notices the absense of Roho's. Still intently watching the hold, she says, "Not that it's the most imminent concern, but the air is still unhealthy."

Envoy staggers back from her hole, but sets one of the lanterns down next to it before retreating further.

Roho slowly gets to his feet, then feels at his leg where whatever-it-was slipped past him…

Chiaroscuro meefs! and says "Everyone, move carefully, away from the holes in the deck."

Roho makes a further realization, "My staff's under there, somewhere… can someone help me?"

Despite what Chiaroscuro says about being careful, Naomi cries out, and scrambles backward as hastily as possible.

Chiaroscuro steps back towards safer area… making his steps quiet as possible. "And by Rik' in the garden, *quietly*… "

The deck slams again! The hole becomes abruptly longer, the lantern flying to one side and smashing against the deck, the oil coating the water in a sheet of flame. The smooth black prow of some horrific creature stares out at the others before it drops back into the waves.

Envoy spreads her wings out a bit for balance against the shaking deck, but falls to her knees.

Pawtuxet whispers to the doctor, as she slowly takes ahold of his arm, "Follow me, but slowly. We've attracted the attention of something. Something big, it seems."

Envoy says, "I think it's attracted to light and motion."

Roho nods slightly, and moves closely alongside the foxtaur.

Envoy frowns. Only two lanterns now, so she probably won't be allowed to use one in another experiment…

Mircus continues to edge towards the coreward door. "Might be safer in the core. . I mean, it does extend underwater, so it's got to be stronger… I hope."

Envoy says, "And it isn't made of wood."

The Savanite makes a little whimpering noise, frozen in place just at the edge of the enlarged hole.

"Ceramics," Mircus notes distractedly. His mind's likely more on keeping his balance and moving than reciting structural data.

Envoy signs to the Savanite, "Come on, it isn't safe near the hole."

Naomi's footing becomes steady finally, and she makes her way as quickly as possible to the other side of the group.

Chiaroscuro inches along… carefully noting the positions of the gaps in the deck. He keeps away from the others to spread out the sounds of walking…

The Savanite abruptly breaks and runs, straight back the way the group came and toward the warehouse – just as the creature shakes the deck again! Planks fly and the prow of the black sea-monster obscures the cheetah from sight, but now it can be plainly seen, two gigantic eyes the size of plates and beneath, the armor-like hide merges into tentacles coated liberally with suckers. Its hide is mottled with colors that flash incongruously brightly in the lantern's light.

Chiaroscuro gasps… "Nakh'ri'Sheol metriiibuta coti… "

Somewhere in the distance, if anyone could see the Savanite, they might see it signing "Feet don't fail me now".

Envoy falls to her knees again and nearly drops the lantern, staring at the creature.

Mircus lets out a little squeek of fright and skitters backwards. .

Chiaroscuro keeps his eyes worriedly on Envoy… and calls out in as loud a whisper as he dares. "Quiet!" Suddenly, he sees Mircus heading for a hole…

Envoy opens her mouth, then closes it as Chipper calls for quiet. She probably wouldn't be able to reproduce the hunting call of a sperm whale with the proper volume anyway.

For those that are quick enough, a glimpse of striped tailfur can be made out, streaking toward the core with speed usually only attributed to Savanites on fire. A trailing scream identifies the fur as belonging to Naomi.

Pawtuxet eyes widen, as the Savanite sprints past, only to be narrowly pursued by the underwater thingie. She carefully steps back against the wall, then whispers to Roho, "Forgive me, doctor. I fear we should be moving now, as this might be our only chance." She picks up the fennec and starts moving towards the core entrance, padding along close to the wall, as smooth and quietly, as she's able.

The creature makes no sound as it batters against the planks, save for the sounds of rending wood; its tentacles snake across the deck in both directions as if grabbing for anything within range…

The mongoose jumps, running towards Mircus… grabbing him nimbly in midair and carrying him across the hole with his momentum. He tries to land quietly, but stumbles, hitting the deck with a *thud* and the clanking of Mircus's pouches.

Roho does not protest as he's picked up… this is no time for heroics, it would seem.

The creature turns, its plate-like eyes appearing to be trying to resolve the shapes that it sees on land…

Naomi, the fast-moving Rath'ani is the first to find the wall of the core of the paquebot, a smooth slick-feeling ceramic. In the darkness, her fingers fumble over the door and find the wheel that would open the hatch… But it doesn't move beneath her hands.

Envoy lays her lantern down on its side, and sends it rolling across the deck in the opposite direction everyone is moving. Only then does she stand up and start making her way slowly towards the core.

Pawtuxet notices the silence from behind, and weighs her options. Sneaking might work, yet it might not. Depends on the creature's vision.

The creature attacks the lantern! More planks go up in splinters as it wraps its tentacles around the fragile glass, which shatters, and dives undersea with it…

Pawtuxet breaks into a run, bounding towards the entrance with the fennec clutched tightly against her. Hurryhurryhurry!

Envoy hurries now. Not for fear that the monster will return, but that the deck has taken too much damage to remain intact.

Naomi tugs desperately at the wheel, squinting at where it joins its socket. "Oh, no! The joint must be corroded!" She looks back down the hall, calling, "Over here! Hurry!"

Mircus looks (and feels, to be honest) rather surprised at being whipped through the air. He stumbles to his feet and stares at the latest hole in the deck. . then bolts for the coreward door.

Chiaroscuro waits, thinking the more spread out everyne is, the more confused the monster is likely to be. He keeps still, waiting on the others to reach safety…

Envoy reaches the core wall and suddenly shivers violently, hugging herself.

The seconds whip by as fast as the wind, and then the others have joined Naomi in struggling with the door. The feeble lantern-light illuminates Rephidim standard writing which might be instructions on how to open it… "TURN WHEEL." "PRESS INWARD." Unfortunately, the heavy plastic wheel itself appears to have been jammed, perhaps by the accumulated grime of ages.

Nearby, thin black lines outline some sort of maintenance panel on the side of the core; above, the ceiling looks quite solid. A stairway might go up to the second floor, if there's an entrance, but that's about thirty feet back toward the creature.

The sussurus of the sea sounds like a growling roar from some wild creature…

Envoy makes her way over to Naomi, and tries pushing on the door.

Nothing.

Roho doesn't look to be doing so good in Pawtuxet's arms.

Mircus tugs on the wheel alongside Naomi… and then slips, leaning hard against the wheel as he regains his balance…

Naomi fumbles through her apron pockets in the darkness, then points at the last lantern. "Maybe some of the lamp oil could grease the wheel!"

Envoy tries to open the panel instead.

Roho starts coughing.

Chiaroscuro watches the monster carefully, ready to bolt at a moment…

The panel slides open to reveal a complicated mass of wires, numerous terminals of which have been corroded from the sea air.

Pawtuxet's ears swirl forward, as Roho coughs. She realises that Roho still hasn't got a mask, "Oh no, I forgot. Did anyone have a spare mask?"

Envoy tries to push the wires out of the way, hoping there is another panel behind them.

Envoy's hands find something long and thin within the wires. Figuring it might be a handle, she pulls on it.

Naomi shakes some water from Roho's medicine bag. "Here's your bag, Doctor!" She begins fumbling through it for a spare mask."

*CLUNK!* Sparks fly liberally from the wires, shocking Envoy! A lever is now visible, reading 'EMERGENCY RESET'. The wheel clicks .

Roho doesn't seem to notice the bag, his coughing is getting worse.

The mongoose's ears perk at the sound, and glancing back…

Envoy jumps back from the panel after the shock. "Try pushing on the door now."

Pawtuxet quickly takes off her mask, and straps it onto the fennec's muzzle.

Naomi's face gets increasingly worried. "He's inhaled too much of the dust! I need to prepare some of that medication… but what was it? I can't remember!"

Roho keeps coughing under the mask… though he at least doesn't seem to be getting worse anymore.

Mircus glances at Naomi, Roho, Pawtuxet, and Envoy, then shakes his head to clear it, "Just find another mask, Naomi; worry about the medicine when we've got time." He glances nervously at the floor, then reaches for the wheel on the door…

Pawtuxet gestures to Naomi, pointing at the bag, and then at her face. Apparently, she's holding her breath, and hoping Naomi will understand.

Another heavy surge of water fills the air with the rushing noise; the creature is just barely visible down the corridor…

Chiaroscuro hisses, "Quiet!" at the crew… and readies to join them as soon as the door is open.

The wheel turns under Mircus's hand, not easily but with a grating noise that stings the ears of those nearby.

Naomi looks up from Roho to Pawtuxet, somewhat startled. "Oh, of course!" She manages to find another mask finally, and treats it from the bottle Roho prepared. The nursemaid holds it out by the straps to Pawtuxet.

The deck thumps again… But the creature is still in sight!

Envoy says, "I think there's another one under there now… "

Mircus barely manages to contain a whoop of delight. He _turns_ that wheel as hard as he can… Open the door… Open the door…

The wheel clacks as it stops turning. No amount of strength will turn it any farther.

Mircus blinks. Then shoves!

The door opens inward onto a darkened airlock, gusting stale air outward.

Pawtuxet takes ahold of the outheld mask with one hand, still supporting the doctor with the other. Then places the mask on her muzzle with some effort.

Naomi circles around to Pawtuxet's side, to help the foxtaur get her mask on. She casts an anxious glance at the now-opened door.

The deck shudders again.

Mircus peers at the shuddering deck and quickly steps through the door, to be faced with… another door.

Chiaroscuro waits, glancing back… The door's open! he starts stepping back, quietly and slowly… glancing to make sure each footstep is safe.

Envoy runs into the chamber as well.

Another wheel with the same instructions. On the side of the chamber are printed the words: "INNER DOOR WILL NOT OPEN UNTIL OUTER DOOR IS CLOSED." Spatters of dark grayish stuff that might once have been black goop coat the closer floor, but little enough of it.

Pawtuxet smiles briefly to Naomi for helping her with the mask, then picks up Roho again, and proceeds inside, once those in front of her have entered.

Envoy gets behind the outer door, ready to push it closed once everyone is inside.

Naomi finishes tying a somewhat messy, but quite secure knot in the mask straps. She closes the medicine bag, and quickly follows the other furs into the lock, her head turned just a bit to keep an eye on Roho and Pawtuxet.

Chiaroscuro steps… steps… nearer the door.

The deck shudders again, and planks bend upward! The next hit will surely sunder more of the corridor.

Envoy calls out, "Run Chipper!"

Naomi chirps, "Hurry, Mr. Waashu Muncher!"

Chiaroscuro makes a quick jump, towards the door… tucking and rolling inside… unfortunately running over Pawtuxet's tail as he does so.

Envoy pushes against the outer door!

The outer door has a panel next to it as well, but the controls look as if they are mechanically based: levers control locking and unlocking the outer door. It creaks as Envoy struggles to shove it closed past the hurrying Chiaroscuro…

The lantern's light is nearly lost amidst the press of bodies in the airlock, only scatterings of light shining against the white ceramic walls. The door hisses shut against a final thundering crash of wooden decks and terrible sea monster…

Envoy reaches for the locking lever and pulls on it.

The locking lever proves to already have been pulled down. This explains, perhaps, why the wheel would not move in the first place.

Envoy hmms, and says, "Try the inner door!"

Chiaroscuro waits quietly, looking around inside the airlock as best he can…

Pawtuxet winces as her most beloved, rear appendage is landed upon by the mongoose, but manages a strained grin. =)

The lantern-light flickers almost entirely out before glowing at its normal brilliance. There's not a lot of air in this airlock.

Mircus tugs at the wheel on the inner door he just happens to be smashed against, "Turn, you… "

*creeeeak*

Naomi mmphs from somewhere in the crush of fur, one of her paws waving frantically from a gap between Envoy and Chipper. "Mmph! Cuh breeve!"

Mircus continues turning the wheel until it stops, then shoves, aided by the press of bodies in the airlock…

The wheel locks into place. There's just one problem… This door probably opens inward and the crush of furs is such that Mircus isn't sure he's strong enough to manage it.

Envoy tries to pull Naomi out into the open.

Chiaroscuro grimaces, and moves under Pawtuxet to make more space.

Naomi takes a gulp of air as Envoy pulls her to the surface. "Guuh! Thank you, Bardess Envoy!"

As the press against the door lessens ever-so-slightly, Mircus attempts to tug on the wheel. Maybe he can open the door a couple of inches at least…

Pawtuxet erps at the mongoose under her? "Good idea!" She grins, "And someone else could sit on my back, so there would be enough space to open the door."

Nothing. Mircus's strength is just not great enough to manhandle the door against the weight of the furs inside.

Envoy climbs up onto Pawtuxet's back and tries to pull Naomi up with her.

Naomi scrambles up with Envoy's help, teetering a little.

Something heavy thuds against the outer door.

Mircus keeps heaving at the door. Futile or not, it's something to do…

As the others pile up against each other on the opposite side, the door starts to creak open, allowing Mircus to pull it past and open … into a fresher-seeming section of the Paquebot. The central core at last.

Mircus doesn't bother holding back the whoop! of excitement. He quickly exits into the core.

Envoy waits to hear if something happens to Mircus…

Pawtuxet stepsteps sideways, so her going outside, won't leave the mongoose trampled upon.

Naomi half dismounts, half falls from Pawtuxet. She scurries after her fellow raccoon, glad to leave the crush, squid, and dust-laden air.

The lantern's light spills out onto the corridor, showing… A completely deserted station. Scatterings of assorted naval equipment are stacked about, and some sharpened chitin knives. Papers lie on the floor.

Envoy steps out of the airlock, and looks for signs of goop. "Whatever attacked the paquebot the first time, it wasn't those squids."

Overhead, glass lightbulbs might normally cast a pale light over the corridors… But they are darkened now, no power flowing through the exposed wires.

Roho's coughing slows at the cleaner air. He still can't seem to get a word out, and he's shivering, but at least he's getting some color back.

Pawtuxet pads outside after Envoy, still carrying the intoxicated fennec.

Envoy helps Chipper pull the door closed.

Chiaroscuro closes the door shut with Envoy's help, after leaving the airlock.

Naomi keeps pace with Pawtuxet, worriedly watching her mentor, and digging around in the doctor's bag for possible remedies, a look of helplessness on her face.

*Clank!* The door's closure reveals words painted luridly upon the inside of the hatch with some darkened material that has smeared liquidly. "THE TRUTH WILL SET US FREE."