B-564: Merchant Freighter Spanial (Docked at Zarg’s World Highport), Common Room

Karmen seems interested too, “How do you know that?  I told you not to fraternise with our special passengers.”

Ipan looks part abashed, part defiant, “Yeah, well, you’re always riding me to get better at my craft.  I just came out to get a snack from the Galley one Red Shift and he was watching some old vid and drinking.”  

He points to indicate where Argyle was sitting.

“He started talking and I didn’t want to be rude, I said I was Comm/Scan and he started talking comms stuff.  Like deep comms stuff, and I tried to remember as much as I could.  He even got out a hardcopy journal at one point, started drawing diagrams and formulae in it for me, explained it, really well, and I got it.  Used some of it to encrypt our comm buoy comms too, makes it sound like random background galaxy noise but you can put a signal inside it.”

He seems pleased with himself.

“Anyway, next Cycle he knocks on my cabin door.  Do I like vids?  Well, yeah, I do.  And I said so.  So we watched a few together while he was here, and then before he left he gave me a storage widget with a bunch on it.  Mostly old ones…and a few that are restricted.”