Diving on New Innsmouth

Throughout 1288 PE, the political situation remained tense. The aftermath of the Fafnir Metro bombings was a febrile period. Though Black Flame claimed responsibility, many analysts suspected that New Innsmouth had provided a helping hand - after all, how else had BF's agents been able to leave the Colorian System? The previous year's events at Alcaeus had only served to escalate the situation. By the mid-point of '88, there were growing fears of war. Given that the Union and the Empire represented two of the Exile's largest economies, and the two biggest militaries, their dispute had the potential to destabilise the rest of the wider Exile.

In November, the Moon and both Martian republics jointly called for a multilateral summit, with the intention of calming the situation across the galaxy. Tending to shadow Luna and Mars as they did, Venus, the asteroid confederation and the Galilean satellites also added their voices in favour of the proposal. With the Exile's single largest economy all singing from the same song-sheet, it was impractical for either Ancalagon or New Innsmouth to ignore them. Also, the Solar System's intervention was privately-welcomed in Fafnir, as it gave the Palace an excuse to walk back from a confrontration that the government didn't really want.

Once the Empire announced its attendance at the summit, it was impossible for New Innsmouth to back out without losing face - but, the Innsmouthites demanded that the summit be held on one of their worlds. Not wanting to be seen to favour either side, the Solar alliance (now vocally-supported by Proxima b and the other Periphery colonies) accepted the proposal. In fact, after several weeks of shuttle-diplomacy, the summit location was selected as New Innsmouth itself. In return for this substantial concession, Fafnir also got to invite Delta Anaria to the meeting. (This was significant as the People's Republic had tended to align with Ancalagon on foreign policy matters.)

The summit was arranged for April 1289 - this lengthy interval allowed time for the Anarian delegation to travel to the designated location. (Plus, Anaria needed time to organise a special election for their delegates - Anaria's insistence on being democratic about everything did tend to slow proceedings down!) In the meantime, all parties agreed to avoid any incendiary actions.

At this point, Wreck was mostly ignoring current affairs. Following Alcaeus, he had been selected for officer training, and had actually been seconded out of the regular army to pursue the required degree course. He was still in the Army Reserve, but there was no expectation of active service at this time.

Then, just as the first-semester holidays were starting, Wreck was approached with a quiet offer. It came via way of his former company commander.

New Innsmouth had done some back-stabby things in the past, and had a poor reputation in Ancalagonian circles. Since the Crown Princess herself would be attending the summit, there were some concerns over safety. While a direct attack on the Heir to the Throne was considered unlikely, nonetheless, New Innsmouth had done some similar things in the past. It was unlikely, but not unimaginable. In addition, the Consul and the Foreign Secretary would be in attendance, so a lot of high-profile egges were going to be in one basket. No-one wanted anything dropped.

While the security services were doing everything they could through official channels, worries had been raised about New Innsmouth's candour. And, if the fish-folk were planning something sneaky, of course they wouldn't tell the liaison officers about it! So, the powers-that-be wanted someone to have a quiet look around the summit's venue, just to see if there were any hints of untoward activity. But, it needed to be done quietly - an official delegation could attract obfuscation or deceit.

What high command needed was a couple of competent, reasonably-trustworthy people who had the skills to spot potential threats, but who could also plausibly-pose as independent actors. Hopefully they would attract no suspicion from the New Innsmouth authorities - and, if they did, it was deniable enough that there would be no diplomatic consequences.
Wreck was one of the people who got approached.

In return for a day or so of discreetly poking around the summit-area, he got a fortnight's holiday to another planet, that was paid for by someone else. However, New Innsmouth is a pelagic world and its inhabitants are partly-aquatic - a lot of the really interesting stuff is underwater. There was no avoiding it: he and Gerill were going to have to get their snouts wet.

Wreck and Gerill were posing as tourists, and they mostly were tourists while they were on New Innsmouth.

However, one day, they did happen to take a little diving excursion out beyond the Foreigners' Quarter of the city of Pacifica. (The quarter - and its protective sea wall - can be seen in the background. Officially, the wall is to keep flood waters out. Some cynics have speculated that its actual purpose is to bottle up foreign visitors inside New Innsmouth's token model community.) They were going to do a little swimming around the edges of the waterside hotel-complex that was earmarked for the summit, to look for any hints of sabotage.

Since their cover was as civilian tourists, both dragons had civilian-style gear. Powered armour would have attracted too much attention here! Plus, a Phalanx suit wouldn't be very practical in this context. New Innsmouth's waters tend to be chilly - it's a cool planet - and the dragons are of course exothermic. On Ancalagon, this is a benefit. On New Innsmouth, it's a problem. Luckily for them, both Wreck and Gerill have heated undersuits on beneath all the rubber.

As for the dive, it ended up being uneventful. They found various shopping carts, a couple of abandoned suitcases, lots of rubbish and other detritus near the hotel, but nothing suspicious. Their cover held; no-one suspected anything. Wreck and Gerill weren't stopped, either on return to the Foreigners' Quarter or on their way back to New Innsmouth. They filed their report, and it went to whoever dealt with these things.

The summit itself came and went. A lot of choreographed events happened. Various speeches were given. A lengthy diplomatic verbal dance happened, the end result of which was a successful de-escalation of tensions. This time at least, war was averted. It wasn't clear if the galaxy be so lucky the next time, though.