9-405: Pristine, Downport Administration

There’s a momentary flash of the Vizierate Snark they came here in previously and of a Legion Gunboat that stirs a sense of familiarity in Oliver before all those monitors are turned off to focus on commercial ships.

There’s a bit of activity going on at the Downport in the videos. 

The Security Chief diverts from the camera question and explains that the Downport runs several large cargo shuttles to transfer goods to and from bigger ships that can only dock at the Highport, and these run at a more or less constant rate, filling the Highport warehouse in anticipation of a ship’s arrival in orbit and then gradually emptying it after.  When a ship does arrive there’s a flurry of activity in the usual routine for urgent cargo and passenger transfers.  That said, some ships are atmosphere-capable and can be loaded directly on the ground, and some freighters, usually the smaller ones and the independents, sometimes transfer some or all of their cargo (or passengers) using their own shuttles.

Most of the cargo is containerised and so there’s plenty of room for a person inside.  Though Oliver would know that most Cargo Holds are not pressurised, and some are not heated or cooled either, so that could be risky. 

So he might need to narrow his search parameters in respect of Cargo.

Most passengers board via a passenger bus fitted with a boarding tube.  It’s difficult to see individual passengers from the Hangar video feeds, but there is coverage of the bus boarding area.

The Security Chief checks the boarding logs.  He advises that Argyle’s arrival on Pristine a long time ago is there, but according to the records he never left, and Lozenge-Sok has never been here at all.

So how would Oliver like to tackle this?  Get he and the team to start looking at vids?  Something else?  What sort of time period is he going to look for?  What things might he focus upon?