The Astromancer Candidates, Tahir Archelaus of the Inquisition and Rhys Iaokim of the Priesthood, have been on Tarsus for two days now. Leeta has found herself being hustled about on chores strikingly similar to the work she did in the Temple, such as running papers around and fetching things, as well as more strange things like helping Tahir tinker with several odd devices. All that has been put aside for today though, for today every hand is needed outside for the arrival of the supply ship.

The two Savanite cubs have been underfoot as always. The older male cub seems to have taken a liking to Leeta and follows her around quite a bit… although he has also been sighted with Rhys from time to time as well.

Her tail-tip twitches with curiosity, but Leeta otherwise tries not to show it as she heads outside for the arrival of the ship. While checking around for her little cheetah shadow, she discovered that Tahir had decided to follow her outside also. The red-maned Savanite makes sure the Human is leading, as both of them exit the tower to where they are needed.

The cub MEOWS loudly as Tahir punches a button on the elevator and causes the small room to jolt as it glides downward. His tail bristles and his arms quickly latch themselves around Leeta's leg.

Leeta reaches down to fuzzle the cub's hair, and calm him down. She looks across at Tahir and gives him a little smile as she steadies herself with the wall.

"Do you know what's on this supply ship?" she signs with her free hand.

Tahir smiles in return. "I'm still getting used to a world where machines are a novelty in many places," he says after casting a glance at the excited little Savanite. "The supply ship? Basic supplies I think: food, tools, fresh hands… that sort of thing."

Leeta waves her hand around at the tower outside of the elevator. "All these things here are so strange and unusual. It's hard for me to think that they must have been as common for you, as the Bazaar is to me."

Her tail thumps against the side of the elevator, as a distraction for the small cub during the shaky ride.

"A great deal was common to me… I guess that's why I'm starting to feel at home here. There are so many machines here, Leeta." The human runs a hand through his red hair and looks around and casts a mysterious smile at Leeta. "In fact, I think I might be on the right track with finding a certain device for you."

"A SPEAKER!" Her hands jump up in front of her in large signs, "Where? Are you sure?"

Tahir smiles. "Maybe. The machines are in much better condition higher up, easily repaired with a bit of work and some parts-swiping."

The smaller cub watches Leeta's tail, but still keeps a firm grip on her leg.

"Oh Tahir," Leeta starts to purr, surprising her self with the sound, then continuing with a grin of embarrassment. "I'd love that! I could talk with you when you're studying, or out of sight, or Zoltan's cubs, or… just so many things!"

The tail belonging to the fire-haired Savanite twitches up, then down, up, then down, exactly opposite the cub's nose.

The elevator jolts again and the doors slowly part open. The bottom floor is a bustle of activity as everyone prepares to greet the arriving supply ship. Tahir flashes another grin to Leeta and then casually steps out into the larger room.

Near the doorway leading outside of the tower, Rhys can be seen leaning against a crate. He's having another pleasant little conversation with some of the workers nearby it seems.

Leeta follows, with a hand on the cub to make sure he is with her, as she tries to swallow down her purr. She notices Rhys, and slows, watching to see if he pays any special attention to her. Her ears flick in curiosity, trying to catch the conversation as well.

With her keen sense of hearing, Leeta has no trouble overhearing the conversation… "And then the little devil used one of my pencils to mark up a wall, the Technopriests thought I did it!" "Really… Did you punish the tyke?" "No, it was rather humorous really; I take a sick pleasure in watching Technopriests fume." "Haw haw!"

Tahir gives his 'brother' a wave and heads out the open door. It's really quite a sight to see the two together. Rhys in his clean cut formality, his crisp robes and almost military haircut – while Tahir dresses more like one of the workmen in a plain cotton shirt and grayish pants. His own bright red hair probably hasn't been cut for the entire journey and now grows past his shoulders.

She looks down, hiding her smile by showing it to the cub beside her leg. Leeta rubs the cub's head again as she straightens up and follows Tahir. Her eyes keep crossing from him to Rhys, their similarity – and differences – still a startling sight to her.

The cub wavewaves a paw at Rhys as Leeta walks by with him. Rhys gestures weakly, as if too distracted in his conversation to do any more.

Leeta hesitates, wanting to send the cub over to Rhys as the two do seem to be getting along. {No, that wouldn't be right. It would probably embarrass him, and as much as that would help Tahir, it would hurt the little guy and Rhys. That's not why I want them to be friends.} Instead, she puts her hand on the cub's back to bring him with her, while giving a glance at Rhys to see if he signals her to do something else.

Bumping into Leeta's legs, the cub follows after the older Savanite into the bright sunlight outside. Tahir clambers up on some empty crates and looks off into the distance, trying to spot the approaching supply ship.

"Do you see it, Tahir?" Leeta signs, as she moves in front of the crates. She looks herself.

The human doesn't answer, his gaze fixed off toward the horizon and away from Leeta's hands.

Off in the distance, Leeta can make out the faintest speck of an approaching ship.

The Savanite just smiles, looking into the distance; she would have had a use for a speaker already. Lifting the cub up onto a crate so he's at her eye-level, she points out the dot to him. Leeta also watches Tahir, for when he finally looks back at her, and her signs.

The dot starts to grow larger and larger, although still very far away… the workers begin scrabbling around with ropes and carts, preparing to unload the ship's stores when it arrives.

Leeta looks around. Tahir probably won't be expected to work, but she will. Someone will want to give her orders, but she doesn't know who, and isn't familiar enough with docks to know where to be. She also glances back inside to see what Rhys is up to; the cub has to go somewhere.

Suddenly, without any warning at all, the ship explodes in a bright blossom of flame. Seconds later the rumblings of the explosion hit the ears of those on the island. "It couldn't have been?" "What'll we do?" "No, Dagh no!" Cries fill the air, while others numbly watch as a smoking wreckage plunges downwards into the sea. Tahir leaps from his seat on the crates and rushes up to the dock.

Leeta barks! Grabbing the cub up, she dashes after Tahir.

Rhys appears and runs almost right alongside with Leeta. "What's going on? What's happening?" he shouts. He and Leeta both catch up with Tahir, who is staring down at the falling bits of wreckage.

"The supply ship… it's gone." "We'll starve! We'll all starve!" "What'll we do?" More whispers and wailings ring in Leeta's ears.

She grabs tightly to the back of Tahir's shirt-tail and just holds on, her eyes wide as she watches the burning wreckage. Leeta searches through the falling debris, hoping to see survivors, and trying not to see victims.

Rhys spins around to face the crowd. "Everyone stay calm! We won't do any good if we're running around like wounded animals."

Leeta gives Tahir a small prod, and steps away to his side.

"Does anyone have a spyglass?" Tahir chimes in, still facing away from the group. "Or are there any good fliers here that can check and see if that was our supply ship?"

More murmuring, then a Technopriest in green robes emerges from the group. "None of us are fliers, sir. But I'll see if anyone higher up in the tower has something useful. We have a very powerful spyglass up there… just give me a few moments."

"Go then, and hurry!" Rhys barks, sounding more like Shimei giving an order than a child.

The Savanite adjusts her hold on the cub, still trying to see if there is anything moving in the wreckage. Her eyes don't compare to a spyglass, but still she tries. Next, she looks around the docks for anything that might be useful.

The technopriest vanishes into the tower. Meanwhile Rhys begins pacing back and forth, appearing to be in deep thought.

Leeta's tail gives Tahir a bump against his ankle, then a purposeful tap.

Tahir turns around to look at Leeta. "What?" he signs in a casual gesture against his chest.

"Take charge," she replies, as she brings her hand up to calm the cub she's holding. Her next signs are more complex, and Leeta does them in front of the cub's nose as teasing gestures. "Tell them to prepare for wounded, or get a salvage crew ready."

Tahir hisses softly between his teeth, "But I do not know if there is anything to salvage… and we have no way of reaching them even if there were any survivors… unless the wind blows them to Tarsus." He nods to the assembled workers, most of them wolves and Savanites… with the occasional raccoon and Khatta.

Slowly, the Technopriest re-emerges from the tower, his face grim. More moans and whispers echo in his wake as it becomes blindingly obvious what the status of the ship is.

"If only the jetpack worked… " Leeta signs, then stops, not wanting to consider the risks if it did. She holds onto the cub, her tail slapping against her ankles in frustration. {What can I tell Tahir to do, when there is nothing that can be done?}

Rhys' abruptly stops his pacing and looks at the Technopriest. "Well?" The raccoon simply shakes his head, prompting a frown from the human.

"Ration the remaining supplies," she signs, looking one last time at the wreckage, knowing from the Technopriest's face what she'll see, but wanting to check again.

"Will there be another ship soon? How much food do we have right now?" Tahir asks.

"The supply ship was to keep us for the next two months," the Technopriest answers, wringing his hands. "They followed a few days behind you. We have enough food to last us two weeks at the most… oh dear oh dear. By the Great Regulator… "

Rhys grits his teeth and glances at Leeta. "How long will we last if we starve the slaves?"

Tahir openly scowls at this idea, and earns another glare from Rhys. "Yes it's cruel… " Rhys continues, "Life is cruel. We might live another week if we starve the slaves… " His voice becomes a bit deeper. "And perhaps longer if nobody has any qualms about eating them. Sick as it may be… lives are at stake."

Leeta waits for Rhys' attention to move off her, then signs, pretending it is for the cub again. In the middle of her gestures she rubs the little cheetah's nose. "Are there any ways of making food, purifying the water? What did you do to get food on the Temple Spaceship, Tahir?"

The cub grabs onto Leeta's leg again, his ears flat against his head. Naoko stands with the other slaves… all of whom look very nervous right now.

The fire-haired Savanite shivers at Rhys's suggestion, one colder than she thought he could come up with.

The Inquisitor candidate seems to brighten a bit at Leeta's suggestion. "Perhaps… I'll have to start digging through the upper levels, and I'll need your help. Meet me inside; I'll need to find Brother Mainspring to get access to the higher levels."

Leeta nods, petting the cub holding her leg. Her signs are terse, as she hopes Tahir can fill in their meaning. "Say something to calm slaves. Rights elsewhere, here to be food, may cause problems." She disengages the little cheetah from her leg, and leads him over to Naoko. She doesn't have a very hard time staying in the proper slave posture on the way over.

Rhys, meanwhile, continues to start mumbling with the Technopriest. The cub meanwhile seems intent on remaining with Leeta, and yowls loudly as Leeta tries to lead him away.

Tahir nods. "Everyone! Everyone, please calm down!" he shouts; it still seems eerie to hear orders come from the throats of children. "There are devices up in the tower that might be used to purify our water and generate more food. Don't panic yet!"

"Get off of it, Archelaus!" Rhys snaps. "You're just trying to save your pet's skin. These are desperate times… If you don't want your slave to starve, then why don't you feed her your meals instead?"

The red-maned Savanite relents, giving the cub her tail to hold onto. She stops, trying to leave him with Naoko and instead signs to her and the other slaves, "My master will fix things, don't worry."

The Inquisitor Candidate balls up his fists. "That has nothing to do with this, Rhys. I'm trying to keep our options open."

"May the Star guide you both," Naoko signs, biting her lip with worry. All those years with Nartak, and the harshness she endured near the end of her time there – then finally falling into good graces on the airship only to die of starvation… The old slave shivers.

Leeta nods, trying to hide her worry and heading for the door of the tower. The little cub follows her, his hands tightly around her tail. She reaches the entrance and stands just inside, where hopefully only Tahir and likely Rhys will see her gestures. "Let us slaves starve until the machines are fixed. It will give us three weeks to try."

What seemed like an eternity later, Tahir storms back into the tower, a key-ring with gleaming copper keys clutched in his hand. He's got that angry sulking look about him again… but this time it's tempered down with a new look to Tahir's face… determination. "Come on, Leeta… we have much to do and very little time to do it in."

Fire-Mane nods and follows after Tahir, she's not going to be food if she can help it. The little cub drags behind her on her tail, by far the happiest of the three.

"The elevator only works up to the tenth floor. We'll have to walk up seven flights after that," Tahir says as he presses a panel on the elevator, urging the metal doors to hiss open. "How long do you think you can live without eating? I can smuggle food in for you from my own meals, but it won't be much."

"I've gone for a couple months with just a little bit of food, but I don't know how long I'd last with none. It depends how hard I have to work. Water is most important; I'd only survive a few days without it." Leeta thinks of all the hard times with Nartak, and others before that, in the jungle. "Eating dirt will stop the hunger pains. We'll last long enough to be food for everyone else."

"All the more reason to hurry then. Don't worry, Leeta, I won't let anything happen to you – You've gotten me this far; it's the least I can do to carry you through a trial for once." Tahir ducks into the elevator and shoots a glare in the direction of the doorway leading outside the tower.

Leeta follows, making sure the cub comes with her. She stares in the same direction Tahir does. "I don't know if I could live through that anyhow." Her tail curls protectively around the little cheetah.

The cub hugs Leeta's tail, grinning. The elevator begins to hum as it starts to crawl upwards. Tahir leans against the wall; a look of weariness starts to creep across his face.

The red-maned Savanite leans against the opposite wall. She tries to think of something helpful to sign, but few gestures come to mind. "We'll survive, Tahir; don't worry."

The other human smiles mirthlessly. "And if I don't… they can always make a copy of me back in the Temple."

Leeta's hands close up tightly, and she doesn't sign anything more. She watches the lights count up, biting her lip as they do.

A few minutes later the elevator slides to the top and the doors open. Unfortunately the contraption didn't stop level with the floor and there's a three foot ledge to climb to get out. "I… think I'll need a boost, Leeta." Tahir says. The kitten mews, probably a Savanite version of 'me too'.

The red-haired Savanite looks warily at the gap, visions of the elevator dropping and cutting anyone caught coming to mind. "It is safe isn't it? It won't suddenly slip?"

"Perfectly safe. I was warned this would happen… although times like this make me sorely miss being six feet tall." Tahir stands on his toes and peers over the ledge.

Leeta steps up behind the human child and puts both hands on his waist. She lifts, helping him up over the edge, and putting her thigh under his feet to give him something to stand on as he climbs.

The human scrabbles up onto the ledge and scoots back to make room for Leeta and the cub.

The little cub is much easier to boost, being smaller and lighter than Tahir. After he is through the gap, Leeta follows quickly. Her height makes it easy to get through, and she doesn't want to spend any time 'in-between', just in case.

"Did humans come up with these things because you were jealous of everyone else, and wanted to chop their tails off?" Leeta signs, after she has exited the elevator.

With a scraping noise, the elevator doors close and the elevator slips down to the floors below. Tahir brushes himself off and heads towards the staircase. "We're not done yet… time for some climbing; now to see how good my stamina was when I was seven."

The human laughs. "I'm not sure, Leeta. I think we just liked our doors to close quickly to prevent drafts… or it could have been that engineers enjoyed nipping off people's tails. Were they not all long dead I would go and ask them."

The Savanite follows with a grin, and a cub tugging her tail. "I thought so. Come on, let's get up there." On the way, she looks around at the unfinished sections of the tower.

The most obvious thing that looks to have been unfinished is the elevator shaft… but what looked to be a gaping hole opening in the top of the tower from outside has been sealed up, probably to prevent the elements from harming the treasures inside. The stairway that the trio climbs up on looks newly built, the stone a different color than what was used to build the tower with. Fluorescent lights hum above and cast bluish shadows on the walls.

Leeta looks around for dangers as Tahir climbs. The stairs are her obvious worry, and she follows close enough behind to grab him if she hears the sound of a shifting stone; she listens very carefully for that noise. She's on the lookout for other things as well, like loose panels or wires that the cub following her might get into. About the only thing that isn't on her mind is the effort to climb the stairs; her regular sprints have given her enough wind for that.

Tahir and the cub seem to have the energy of youth, and manage to climb the remaining seven stories without incident or a break. Tahir motions for the two Savanites to follow him as he reaches the seventeenth floor and dashes down a hallway. Unlike the lower floors, there is a lot less junk strewn about and several heavy doors with the 'cycling' mechanism that Leeta remembers from the Temple. The only difference is that underneath each cycling wheel, there's a slot for a key.

The Savanites follow after him, though the red-maned one glances at a few of the key-slots. As soon as Tahir stops at a door she asks, "This is a restricted section? What are behind all these?"

Tahir jams a key into one of the locks and begins struggling with the cycling mechanism. "The machines that have a hope of being repaired. Higher up and you run into the more dangerous items." With great effort, the human manages to wrestle the door open. Inside are countless boxes and crates with all sorts of strange symbols painted on them.

"Okay, let me handle something if it's dangerous. I'll keep the cub out of things." Leeta follows the human into the room, staring at the incomprehensible symbols, "What should I look for?"

She takes a moment to turn to the little cheetah, clasping her hands around his and squeezing them against her tail. "Hold on, and don't let go," she signs to him, hoping he understands.

"I'm not sure," Tahir says, peering into one of the crates and rooting around. "If I remember correctly, we're looking for a thing that looks a bit like a big thermos… about three feet tall with handles poking out on either side. Also look for a thing that looks like a rope with a large head on either end."

The little cub grasps onto Leeta's tail and smiles up at her. His eyes start to droop sleepily.

The symbols on the crates look fairly meaningless… The only symbol that looks remotely recognizable is a snake painted messily on a box near the corner. The rest might as well be useless squiggles painted by the cub.

"Okay." The Savanite starts looking into the boxes, peering into the open ones, and carefully prying into the closed ones. She also gives a quick glance around the room for someplace the cub can curl up. {If worse comes to worst, maybe there's an empty crate he'll sleep in.} Spotting the snake-marking, Leeta tries that one next.

The Savanite's searches reveal many bits of junk, although she does come across one of the helmets used to process Exiles with as well. There are also a few motors and switches.

As Leeta goes through the snake box, she comes across a strange device that resembles a glove, except that there's a large metal box attached to the back of the hand, and wires running to every finger. There's also a larger piece attached to it that runs up to the shoulder and looks like it attaches like a shoulderpad. Multicolored wires run from the box on the glove to the white plastic shoulderpad.

Tahir continues rummaging through the boxes, oblivious to Leeta's findings.

The Savanite stares at the device. From what the human described, it isn't one of the things she's looking for, but is something she wanted to find. "Tahir!" She signs, moving to where he can see her, and carefully taking the device from the box, "Is this what I think it is?"

"Huhwhat?" Tahir pulls his head out of a crate; a cord of some sort hangs around his neck. He squints at the Savanite's findings. "Yes, Leeta… that is a speaker. Although it's doubtful that it functions right now. Where did you find it?"

"It was in a box there, with a Naga symbol on it." She points to where she found it.

The human arches his neck to look in the direction of the box, then shakes his head. "Normally I would be very happy for you… but right now we have other things to do. Especially if you ever plan to live long enough to use your new glove." He starts digging through another crate.

"I know, I just wanted to make sure so I could set it aside," she signs as he looks away, then puts the glove back where she found it. Leeta takes the box and moves it closer to the door, then starts going through some of the crates that were behind and underneath it.

After about a half an hour of digging and rummaging, Leeta manages to locate the device. It's fairly heavy, and the other gadgets Tahir has assembled will make everything impossible to carry down the stairs in one trip.

Leeta pants a little bit, looking at the pile of equipment, "If this all goes together, I'll be amazed. What does it do, exactly?" She starts organizing the items into amounts she can haul, Tahir and the cub being only able to handle the small things.

"Well, it's mostly bits and pieces, and I'll have to see if I can raid the lower levels for spare parts. But I might be able to generate food with just a little bit of water." Tahir says, sitting down heavily. "I think it would be best if I just stayed up here… although I'm going to need some tools."

The Savanite smiles at the great suggestion, "That's a much better idea; I won't have to lift all this! What do you need? I think I remember most of them from your books. I can go ask, or take a note."

Tahir looks at the work ahead of him and just sighs. "I think I'm going to need every tool the Technopriests can supply, and some coffee if there is any." He runs a hand through the mess of bright red hair on his head. "Well, the sooner I finish this… the sooner you can have dinner."

"Oh… the coffee goes in that Thermos thing?" Leeta points at the large cylinder, trying to make the best of the situation. "You'd better give me a note then; they probably won't let me take all those items."

"Er… no." Tahir closes his eyes for a moment and chuckles. "Just get a Technopriest up here. I don't remember how to spell half of the tools I need anymore."

"Okay, I'll go get Brother Mainspring then, and see if the little guy wants to say behind. It would be a good idea to hide the speaker glove, or they'll think that's all we were up here for." Leeta heads for the door, the cheetah cub bounding along behind her and still firmly attached to her tail. She gives one more brief wave of signs before she starts on the search, "We can do it Tahir, I know we can. Back soon."