Christian-Sinne, LLC

Private Investigators

---

Cet-Tel

(speak/do/far/body/water/same)

Bob's pod, speak/do/far/body/water/same is a large, mixed-race pod that holds territory South and east of Haven. The pod was formed originally as an independent subsidiary of Hydrospan specializing in remote communications, but has since enlarged and become something of a "bedroom community" for many of Haven's cetaceans.

Pod Composition

The pod currently has 71 members, scattered among most of the aquatic races of Poseidon as follows:

• Common Dolphins: 20
• Bottlenose Dolphins: 25
• Orcas: 6
• Belugas: 3
• Pilot Whales: 0
• Squids: 17
• Divers: 0

The waters in the area are really too shallow for Pilot whales and Divers to find them too enticing.

Top

Pod Employment

There are two main businesses run from speak/do/far/body/water/same. The first is a commercial fishing operation, which employs about half the human population and a quarter of the dolphins. Starfall Limited Partnership, a public company traded on the stock market, supplies Haven and its environs with a variety of fish, both live and processed. It is not uncommon for members of the pod who happen to be Haven bound to be asked to assist in bringing shipments into port, or to bring back equipment from haven for the fishing operation.

The second business is Cet-tel, an independent subsidiary of the Hydrospan Corporation specializing in the installation, upkeep, and operation of remote and telecom equipment. Cet-tel employs half of the dolphins, most of the orcas, and about a quarter of the humans in the pod (and also has offices in Haven for its dry land employees). Cet-tel specializes in the installation of integrated community telecommunications networks in outlying areas, particularly CAT buoy installation and maintenance, and members of the pod directly involved with the company travel extensively across Poseidon.

There is also a small, but growing minority within the pod, mostly made up of relative newcomers, who don't work for either of the pod's two commercial ventures, but enjoy the relatively close proximity to Haven, and the modern amenities. Though not directly employed by either of companies, these individuals are still expected to help out when needed and put their talents at the disposal of the pod.

Top

History of the Pod

Speak/do/far/body/water/same started off as a cetacean/Native fishing cooperative during the time of isolation. Based on and around a small island in the area the original pod bay/shallow/fish/catch/body/water/same helped supply Haven and its environs with fish during the time of isolation, and after contact found themselves in possession of some lucrative property - a territory near one of the largest and fastest growing communities on the planet, and able to provide a high demand product to its growing population. The pod's wealth grew, but so did its troubles, as increasing numbers of cetaceans and humans began encroaching into pod territory.

Enter Cet-Tel, a subsidiary of Hydrospan looking to grab a chunk of the remote operations and telecommunications market. Bay/shallow/fish/catch/body/water/same was holding a territory that could be very profitable for Cet-Tel - close enough to Haven to take advantage of the dry land manufacturing, storage, and delivery facilities, far enough out to be comfortable and relatively free of the pollutants that the city produced. Since the pod was, by then, trading on the stock market as Starfall Limited Partnership, it would have been possible for Cet-Tel, backed by the deep pockets of Hydrospan, to simply buy up the company. Instead, Cet-Tel's president entered into negotiations with bay/shallow/fish/catch/body/water/same for the purpose of having sufficient members of Cet-Tel join the pod to make Cet-Tel a going concern in the area.

The negotiations took nearly two years. In the end each prospective Cet-Tel employee was thoroughly examined by bay/shallow/fish/catch/body/water/same to determine whether or not they were acceptable for entry into the pod. Hydrospan purchased additional territory for the pod to offset its increasing numbers. In the end, Cet-Tel was able to place enough pod members to begin operations, and the pod changed its name to speak/do/far/body/water/same.

Since that time the pod has been very selective about who it brings in. Most new members have been connected to one of the two main business operations, but a few cetaceans and natives who have applied for membership and who have suitably impressed pod members have been invited to join as well.

Top

Pod Members of Note

• Gubbins - President of Cet-Tel and Pod leader (Common Dolphin)
• Rose - CEO of Starfall Limited Partnership (Bottlenose Dolphin)
• Whitecap - Native Patrol representative (Orca)
• Mia Sinne - elder wise woman of the pod; Rapanui's grandmother (Squid)
• Caliban Tongariro - elder wise man of the pod; Rapanui's grandfather (Squid)
• Mateo Abbassi - Rose's assistant and a skilled mechanic who keeps the pod's fishing fleet in order (Squid)
• Bibi Kayler - Cet-Tel's chief financial officer (Squid)

Mia Sinne and Caliban Tongariro.  Rapanui's maternal grandparents are first-generation natives of Poseidon, born right around the time everyone resigned themselves to the idea that the Abandonment was for real. They were raised by the technologically-savvy first colonists to become living repositories of information and know-how. Both have phenomenal memories and consider it their duty to Poseidon to keep all this information alive. They have a long-range view, and estimate the odds at slightly better than 50% that this Second Colony will end up like the first, with a new Abandonment. Thus, they feel their duty continues, for their knowledge may be needed not only by those who call themselves Natives, but by all on Poseidon. Despite their age, they continue to perform experiments and research, though someone freshly arrived on the planet might not realise this because of the lack of fancy equipment. They are constantly studying the Poseidon ecology to find new uses or new materials, or to identify new dangers. They are xeno-ecologists with the smallest research budget on the planet.

Mateo Abbassi.  The assistant director of Starfall LP is a healthy and fit Native man in his mid-thirties, with short curly black hair, blue eyes, and callused hands that seem to magically find the flaw in a cracked casing or the fast-fungus causing a short in a control board. Mateo is an excellent mechanic and a very good fisherman to boot. His sunny, easy-going disposition makes him a big favourite with the pod's fins.

Bibi Kayler.  A rarity among natives, Bibi sports freckles and bright red hair that are (she swears) not the result of body sculpting or other alterations. Bibi is a very, very sharp accountant (the Commons naturally nicknamed her "Sharkey") but with too much moral fiber to work in a regular Incorporate job, even if she wasn't a Native. She has the distinction of being the first human mother in the pod, boasting twins four-year -olds (a boy and a girl) that positively delight the fins.

Bob and the Pod

Pod life affects Bob in several ways. First off, pod territory starts around 20 km out from Haven, which means that Bob has a bit of a commute if and when he needs to be in or near Haven (usually because he needs to make use of the local Haven network to improve the response time of his remotes). Bob usually stays reasonably close to the portion of pod territory that is near Haven, but even with the use of a sailkite it might take him between 1 and 3 hours to get in (at a speed of around 18 km/h) so prior planning is needed.

Second, Bob has pod responsibilities. Unlike most other members of the agency, he has a large family that expects him to chip in and help, which may prevent him from attending some functions in person even if he has time to get into Haven. While it is unlikely that Cet-tel will relocate him to help with an installation project (unless there are serious security issues) on any given day he may be called on to herd fish, haul catches, provide security for the pod, or even give lessons in Interspec to the local children.

Top

Delphi Island

The humans of the pod have a small refuge/base/village on the islet of Delphi south of Haven. The small island boast a lagoon protected by a coral atoll; the lagoon offers a modest harbour since the atoll ring does not close entirely. The median depth in the center channel of the lagoon is about 10 m, enough for the cetaceans to be safe as well.

Although the Natives normally live in a collection of hut-like dwellings by the lagoon's edge, they have used a natural underwater cave opening from the centre land mass as the starting point to create an underwater storm refuge. When the weather turns bad, fishing boats are hauled out of the water, dismasted, and turned keel up to give less purchase to the winds. Dwellings are emptied of the Natives' limited possessions, and everyone dives for the submerged cave refuge (one of the reasons the pod has only Squids and no Divers is that storms can last several hours and even days.)

All large, expensive, or delicate possessions are kept in the underwater area. That includes a generator, emergency and first aid supplies, pricey equipment, comm gear, etc. Anything that is "up-top" has to be rapidly portable or easily replaceable. As a result, the settlement appears extremely poor to colonials not yet familiar with Native custom. There is enough space in the cave to accommodate a small number of cetes, so in really bad storms the calves are sometimes sent there.

The settlement is used as a sort of base of operations; not everyone returns there nightly or even weekly, and Starfall LP and Cet-Tel are officially based out of Haven, but sooner or later everyone returns "home" to Delphi Island. The settlement itself is called small/fragile/friendly and the refuge safe/blue/echo by the cetes.

Top