quailblog

Claim D489 (The Armadillo)

Notes from the Director of the Salvage Insurance Bureau

Graph paper with a lantern-shaped stamp that reads 'Salvage Insurance Bureau' and 'HandiNote LEGAL' in the upper left. The document is titled 'CLAIM D489: F.A. Armadillo Case Notes' There are 2 pieces of what look like color 35mm slide film taped to the document. Both are group photos of a crew of people with birdlike beaks, antlers, glowing eyes and wearing similar outfits like some sort of uniform, with the exception of one in a white lab coat. The photo is labeled: AIRSHIP CREW, LEFT TO RIGHT Chief Machinist Grina Melhat - First Officer Tolbiana (this is scratched off and 'Tolby, never Tolbiana! Do you want to get stabbed?' is written in) Grounding - Captain Ranette Sen - Doctor Vim Rialma - Navigation Officer Silgund Jeryll - Science Officer Kel Yoel A handwritten note reads: color exposure plates are 'too expensive' and yet they had the crew pose for a silly one - fuck's sake, commerce authority acts like they run the place Anyway - Tamm, we included these because they were taken at the last launch (and are far more accurate than any ID photo) I haven't seen 'long hair Ranette' since she joined - feels like a lifetime ago.There's a taped document that appears to be a pilot's licensed stamped with the 'Bureau of Transportation | Coalition Commerce Authority' and has a photo of a presumably younger captain Ranette Sen from the photos. Her hair is longer. There's another note on the document that reads: 'Tamm, Enclosed are the case files for D489. Since the F.A. Armadillo's latest shipment is over half a season late with no contact, the Coalition Commerce Authority has formally requested the Salvage Insurance Bureau investigate. The Director wants me to remind you (he used more colorful terms I won't repeat here) that the CCA only owns the liability policy, not the craft itself - so their need want of proof the vessel has been lost is purely for financial recompense. You know how the Director feels about the CCA; I'll do my best to keep their temperature cool (and please disregard any...informative notes he leaves in these files) but I'd be lying if I said this wasn’t a huge claim for an apprentice field mage at the bureau. We believe in you, but if at any point you find yourself in over your head, send a dispatch. Also, you'd make the director's SEASON if you were to find the ship intact, CCA seems to be counting on that payout. No pressure though! Here are the crew files in case you wanted to start there. Good luck, Field Mage! Chief Adjuster Galuk'
"Gal, you don't think we're uhh - putting too much on the kid - right? Tamm's gonna wanna do right by me (maybe to a fault) and I feel like maybe we could call them back and send someone more seasoned after the Armadillo. It's probably a lost cause anyway and I don't want to dishearten them.

Also would you please stop treating me like I'm being unreasonable about the commerce goons in your case notes? You report to me, remember?"


Part of a series - The Ongoing Adventures of Magical Insurance Bureaucrats in a World Recovering from a Failed Alien Invasion

magical-insurance-bureaucrats
art
blaugust

#Magical Insurance Bureaucrats #Salvage Insurance Bureau #art #blaugust #microfiction