I was busy writing a letter to Sword Marshall Qosh, warning him of the dangers of allowing just any capsuleer into the Amarr Militia without proper vetting, when mr. Ivan Firth burst into my office, hyperventilating and not making sense.
He was having a panic attack. I calmed him down by reciting a very soothing passage of the Book of Trials while having him breathe in a paper bag.
"You... you enlisted in faction warfare? I thought you were an explorer, and only an explorer, and mostly highsec? That's what the Abbess told me!" He was about to cry. "You haven't fired a laser ever, and now you are taking us to the war zone in an unarmed exploration vessel?!? Is that your plan to kill me?"
I reassured him, "There is nothing to worry about. I will not take the Indigatrix. I will use a shuttle."
Now he cried.
"I intend to keep my vow, I will not engage enemy capsuleers."
That still did not reassure him.
"I can assure you I am quite good at running away." I continued to explain, "I have read up and talked to friends. Apparently, one way to contribute is to assist our heavily armed Imperial Navy vessels while they are patrolling. You just have to hang around with them at an outpost and be an extra pair of eyes, and wait till a timer runs out. It is called 'defensive plexing'. Now, how dangerous can that be, hm?"
He cried again.
"I am not taking the crew along, nor you. You can stay with them, here in station. On the Indigatrix." I added, "They like having you around and need your guidance." I will need to do penance for this lie.
He looked at me with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "But I am assigned to keep an eye on you. To go where you go." I told him that he had been assigned to keep tabs on my exploration activities. The Reverend Mother Kahoudi did not specify that I should be monitored on a shuttle that cannot do exploration, and what if I sneak back to the Indigatrix, certainly his place should be there. It was not difficult to convince mr. Firth, and for the first time in a while I will be flying without the commissar.
