OK, we need to DO something,
Lets list out what needs to be done.
First the big:
We need to Stop the standoff and get the sanctuary out of Volun's control.
How to do it is the big thing... Starting a war is bad.
But short term goals are what we really need.
I think we have pretty close to a full picture, and I think we are pretty much done with the infromation finding out stage.
I don't know how to go from where we are to the main goal. I mean i could do what Kuylen wants and initiate the attack, but every indication has said that doing that is a bad idea.
(Ah, I see. Thanks. I'll just return to the rooms, and share what I have with Gallagher. Hopefully he's come up with something to help the poor Abbot, I'll bet he's running out of time as well.)
Stymied for now, Andro decides to return to his quarters, and share what he's found out with Gallagher and Zaland. Maybe they can help figure out the next step. But, he know there's finally good progress in their case, and it helps to take some of the sting out of his defeat at the hands of Varm and Kathya earlier.
Zaland rather forcibly manhandles you out of the view of the doorway, Gallagher, and goes to answer the door himself.
"Oh..." you hear him say, rather surprised. "Mr. Klinge-Faust... a visitor for you."
He takes the arm of the Abbot, who walks unsteadily into the room.
This convo was going on whilst you were at the cargo area, Andro, so if you want to go back to Gallagher, you'll have nothing to do for a little while. You may wish to just push on? Time is not on your side, after all.
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Well, you still have a lot of questions that have been raised over time that you simply never did ask people, Roan, and then you seemed to forget you wanted to ask them, and then you keep just rushing off to people to ask them single questions... it's not done your diplomatic efforts much good. Added to which you haven't actually made any negotiation attempts. I seem to remember you were going to speak to Volun again, but no-one made any effort to do so. Inertia has badly affected the situation.
The negotiations will start up again in the morning.
"My feet," he says, before widening his arms in supplication. "Forgive me, but even a man of the cloth is allowed the occasional bad joke."
He makes his way over to a sofa, resting upon it with a skeletal hand before slowly lowering himself onto it.
"And you must forgive me again for intruding upon you in the night, and I must ask your indlgence in not letting my staff know. They are very faithful but I am afraid that in their concern for me they will neglect their own lives, which is very much against my wishes.
"You deserve an explanation, I suppose. I'd just finished communicating with some particularly unpleasant Senators and was resting quietly in my room, hoping to gain some insight from the Force about how I should proceed. But I found my thoughts being guided not towards my troubles, but to yours. You seem like a troubled man, Mr. Klinge-Faust, with many mysteries behind his thoughts.
"But I have not come to ask questions of you. I think that it is you who seeks wisdom and guidance at this time- or perhaps just knowledge. Regardless, in whatever meagre way I can assist you, I will be happy to answer any questions you have."
Gallagher smiles at the joke, but is a bit stunned by this, but entirely gratefully.
"Abbott Sienar, you are quite an intuitive man," he says.
"I am curious about Father Varm and Kathya. They are not, according to me and my bodyguards, very peaceful people. Zaland here picked up on Varm as having the look of a murderer. I believe him fully, especially after what happened in the Synod quarters. Were you informed of what truely happened?"
"I know some windows got broken," he says. "But Varm, aside from being a Ordained Priest of a pacifist movement, has been one of my faithful servants for years; Kathya, though not ordained, has worked as my secretary even longer and I trust her implicity. Please Mr. Klinge-Faust, let us not throw accusations at each other. I have just as much reason to be worried about your associate who made such a lound and undounded accusation earlier. Earlier you said you were very curious about the Synod. I cannot fathom why; I am sure you have your reasons, but I do not think that was a lie. What is it you want to know, either about the Synod or myself?"
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Andro, much as I hate to throw this at you, but maybe you can deduce it from what you have found already?
"My apologies," Gallagher says. "We are talking on your conditions..."
Gallagher feels a bit let down after the Abbott says that he may not say another word against Varm, who was just recently taking potshots at his friends.
"How did you come about getting your disease, Abbott, if you don't mind me asking?"
Ah now, that's an idea, Andro...
From what you understand, long-term cryo storage has never been a very practical piece of technology due to neural degeneration. No matter how well kept the body is, the brain never seems to function properly- in fact, most people kept in there for a long time are effectively dead long before they are supposed to be awakened.
With this in mind, some targetted research soon reveals that, indeed, MASSIVE amounts of aspidrol are continuously fed into the patients in Tranqul Repose, in order to stimulate their neural networks and counteract that problem.
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"Simple bad luck," says the Abbot. "I was on Floria on a humanitarian mission, and it turns out I was susceptible. Nothing to be done about it."
(Hmmm... Well, how's about I get in there and look around. I'm betting that there's no one in there. Those kinds of patients aren't likely to get lots of visitors, their families likely to have forgotten about them because of the poor odds of recovery any time soon. But, they happen to need massive ammonts of a very proffitable drug. Perfect front, it sounds like. Andro wants to Sense the place to make sure it's empty, then enter.)