On the flight from Stryko II to Dead Man’s Rock, Imogen properly introduces herself to Lost & Found’s most recent rescue. “Dr. Narud, it’s nice to meet you. The information you left was very helpful for locating you. We have your notes for you if you want them back,” she offers.
Narud receives them happily. It was a real gamble he took, leaving behind those breadcrumbs. He was certain the Dominion would be the one who came after him. The choice between a UED ghost and a Dominion prison is one he is glad he does not have to face. Although Dead Man’s Rock is not the classiest planet, it is also not directly under Dominion control, so a decent place for starting over.
“Before we part ways, I do have some questions for you about the man who took you from that prison.”
“A gosh-dang war criminal!” Narud interjects.
“It seemed from the message you left that he was interested in you taking him to some sort of ancient Xel’naga relic. Do you know what he wanted to do with it?” Imogen asks.
“He needed some insanely large power source for sending a message back to Earth, is what I gathered,” Narud tells her, confirming everything Imogen has surmised. “He knew that these kinds of relics tend to be sources of such power. He must have tracked down that I had done a fair bit of research in this area.”
“So… what can you tell me about them, the relics?” Imogen asks innocently. She triggers a lecture, which is exactly what she was hoping for. However, Narud’s area of interest is too niche to be directly applicable—even if Imogen understood half the jargon he used. She has never even heard of some of the protoss sub-cultures he references. When he gets done with a discourse on Xel’naga glyphs, Imogen asks him about Moebius Foundation, which has recently commissioned the recovery of a significant Xel’naga artifact. Given how long he was in prison, Narud does not have much to say on this topic.
“Well, did you overhear anything from Neiman about the specifics of the message he planned to send?” Imogen asks. Fortunately, the UED ghost had a tendency to ramble to himself about his important project. He was often focused on getting forces to come rescue the expedition or liberate the sector, but every now and then, he would say something useful about the technical details of the message. Imogen files away the relevant information for forging a message that looks like it came from Neiman.
Lilly remains silent at the ship’s controls. She just wants to be done with this Narud guy before he realizes she is the L. Washington whose scientific papers he so admires. Addressing that issue brushes up too closely against resocialization for her comfort. Whenever he looks her way or tries to fold her into the conversation, she just shrugs in response.
Dead Man’s Rock is not a promising place for a scientist, but Narud resolves to make it work. Imogen checks the petty cash fund and offers him fifty credits to get started, which he gratefully accepts. His outlook is quite positive, actually. Dead Man’s Port, however seedy it may be, is better than prison. “Doesn’t matter what I do with my life now,” he says cheerfully. “Everyday I’m alive is a big middle finger to Mengsk.”