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<blockquote data-quote="BSF" data-source="post: 1500258" data-attributes="member: 13098"><p><strong>Rojo</strong></p><p></p><p>NiTessine vs BardStephenFox AKA David Moore</p><p></p><p>Gwenneth Straylight slapped a third storage module into the AT-300 humming away in the hotel room. She flicked the transmit button on her bodycomp and ran through a test sequence. She studied the AT-300’s readout for a moment. Then, satisfied that transmissions were working correctly, she flicked on the ‘Encrypt’ button. From here on out, her bodycomp would encrypt the data being beamed back to the AT-300. Internal Affairs auditing was a pain at times, but it never even entered Gwenneth’s mind to conveniently ‘forget’ to start the recording. Picking up the omnoculars sitting on the window sill, she made sure that the data cable was plugged into her bodycomp. She raised them to her eyes and began her running monologue.</p><p></p><p>“Star Law Ranger Gwenneth Straylight: Subjects are currently relaxing in a hot spring. Two Yazarians, Male and Female. Markings on fur consistent with suspects known as Kenchar Hilo and Marhina Mato. Other occupants of the pool include a Dralasite that hotel records show is an independent clothing sales representative. Kdikit local police have been very cooperative and have formed a cordon around the hotel. As well, they have provided two officers to assist with the arrest. We are waiting for the innocent to vacate the area before we move in as the suspects are known to be violent.” </p><p></p><p>Gwenneth continued her observation of the two Yazarians while checking in with the officers assigned to assist her. She had briefed all of them the night before on Kenchar and Marhina. Ken and M&M were both former employees of MerCo before being dismissed for excessive violence. Now, the lovers were allegedly the head of the local Rojo trade. Gwenneth had worked for months with a dealer turned informant to create an airtight case against the two Yazarians. Two weeks ago, the informant had sent Gwenneth a tight-band, encrypted message telling her that Ken and M&M were fronts for something bigger, much bigger. The next day, the informant had disappeared, only to reappear three days later. He was partially cooked from repeated Maser fire, one of Ken’s favored methods of disposing of competition, and turncoats. </p><p></p><p>Finally, the Dralasite appeared to have enough of the hot water. Pulling itself from the water, it extruded two legs and a third arm. Drying itself off, it was walking again. Gwenneth unplugged the omnoculars and switched over to her helmet. Activating the Dis-Viz progit, she continued recording. “All units, it’s a go. We are moving in now..” She was out the patio door and drawing her Rafflur M-3 as the Kdikit agents assigned to assist with the arrest flanked her. She tried to forget that Ken and M&M were well trained, violent mercenaries that had moved on to the drug trade. This was just another bust. Rounding corner, the Rafflur came up and she braced it in both hands while leveling it at the two Yazarians. “Freeze, Star Law!”</p><p></p><p>The two Yazarians were seated in the hot spring, steam rose up from the water around them. [steam.jpg] They regarded her with contempt and Gwenneth tensed. If they decided to fight … The sound of distant thunder and then the water in the pool leapt into the air. Gwenneth was thrown to the ground as blood and water rained down on her. </p><p></p><p>Hours later the preliminary results were back from the Kdikit police forensics team. Somebody had left a few grenades at the bottom of the pool, with a remote trigger. Whoever triggered the explosion was nearby at the time. Somebody wanted Ken and M&M dead. It was quite a coincidence that the explosion happened just before Gwenneth was able to arrest them. Gwenneth never believed in coincidence.</p><p></p><p>Back in the hotel room, she slapped more storage modules into the AT-300 and pulled up the hotel registry. In a few moments, she had the room number of the Dralasite. Surprisingly enough, he hadn’t checked out. Of course, a good assassin wouldn’t do anything that obvious. Gwenneth grabbed the Forensic-CAS from the case at the foot of her bed. She was trained on how to use it to quickly analyze an area, but any serious analysis would have to be deferred to one of the Sci-Techs. She slung the CAS over her shoulder and checked to make sure the bodycomp was still transmitting. </p><p></p><p>Gwenneth took the stairs up the twelve stories to the Dralasite’s room. Reaching the door to the room, she paused and listened. She could hear a faint hissing noise. Pulling a sealed envelope from a zipper pocket on her leg, she broke the seal and pulled out a master room key for the hotel. Holding the key in her left hand, she drew a small needler from a hidden holster at the small of her back. At 45 cm long, the Rafflur M-3 was a very good long pistol, but it was a poor choice for close quarter fighting. Besides, the needler was much quieter. She slid the key in the door, heard the beep as the lock disengaged, and rushed through the doorway. </p><p></p><p>She crouched with the needler held up as she scanned the room. The window was open and the drapes were waving in the night air. The round table in the corner held a microtape player and a blue bowl, turned upside down. The whirring sound was coming from the microtape player as it was speed erasing the tape. With an expletive, Gwenneth jumped across the room and turned the microtape player off. A large, low box in the corner caught her eye. On the side, she could see the Streel logo for a floater disk. Leaning out the window, she saw a dark form on the ground run around the corner of the building. With another expletive, she kicked the box. If she had only been a little faster … Still, it was an amazing coincidence that whoever was in this room decided to leave just as she arrived. </p><p></p><p>No, it wasn’t coincidence. The person had left in a hurry, otherwise the microtape wouldn’t be here. Somehow, the person knew she was coming. A quick examination of the rest of the room revealed a mess in the bathtub. The Forensic-CAS indicated that it had once been a body suit to masquerade as a Dralasite. The ceramic cone for the plastid was still sitting in the mess of goo. </p><p></p><p>Gwenneth paced the room, thinking. Whoever she was looking for had been in a hurry. So, they likely left some evidence behind. The floater disk box was one start, but how many floater disks did Streel sell in a year? Millions? Still, it was a place to start. The body suit in the tub might have something the Sci-Techs could pull out, but the Forensic-CAS had indicated that the plastid had done a thorough job. What about the plastid? Gwenneth returned to the bathroom, put on some gloves and picked up the ceramic cone. Inside, she could see the MerCo logo. Perhaps the assassin was somebody with affiliations with MerCo? That would be bad. Even MerCo was good about ignoring former employees. If MerCo were still interested in Ken and M&M, then perhaps they still had some corporate ties. No, Mega-Corp ties. After the Corporate Wars, MerCo was a legitimate Mega Corporation. Gwenneth thought back to the classes she had at Star Law Academy. MerCo was closely allied with Streel. They sometimes shared research and there were numerous accounts of them sharing resources. Gwenneth eyed the floater disk box.</p><p></p><p>Returning to the table she reached for the microtape player, then paused. Why did the supposed assassin leave it here? It was portable and wouldn’t have been a problem on a floater board. She brought up the Forensic-CSA and scanned the player. She watched the results scroll up the screen. Somebody had very recently wiped it down with a cleaning solution. But, there was also the chemical signature for Tornadium D-19. The microtape player was rigged to blow up. Very carefully, Clarice slid the player into a hip pouch. Keying on the com-link, she requested a forensic team to come examine the room. The local police would collect up the goo in the tub and run the usual checks on the floater disk box. The microtape player was the best chance to get something useful as far as evidence was concerned. </p><p></p><p>Just before she walked out the door, she stopped. Turning back to the table, she looked at the upside down bowl. Somebody had been holding that recently. Striding across the room quickly, she picked up the bowl and ran the Forensic-CSA over it and watched the screen. Human DNA. Holding the bowl up, a smile tugged at her lips. [bowl.jpg] Whoever was in here forgot to wipe down the bowl.</p><p></p><p>Gwenneth made a trip downtown to drop off the microtape player with a tech she knew, Morris loved to take things apart and put them together, and he had a little demolition experience from a stint in the military. He was tired, but intrigued and told her to come back in the morning. </p><p></p><p>Gwenneth shot off the DNA information and requested a match out of the main database. Maybe she would get lucky and come back with some perp info. As she settled onto the hotel bed, she heard the insistent beeping on an incoming call. With a sigh, she answered it. </p><p></p><p>“Ranger Straylight, I was just reading the reports from last night. It looks like your thugs got themselves blown up. I’m wondering why you haven’t closed the case and returned to the office.” Commissioner Culp could be a bit of a hardass, and he often forgot that some of his agents might be operating half a planet away. </p><p></p><p>“Yes sir, the Yazarians appear to have been assassinated. But, my informant led me to believe that they were merely working for a larger organization. I’m trying to ascertain the veracity of that claim.”</p><p></p><p>“Are you sure you aren’t taking this too personally Ranger?”</p><p></p><p>“No sir, but I am tired. Perhaps in the morning I will re-evaluate my thoughts.”</p><p></p><p>Commissioner Culp blinked. “Oh yes, it is still nighttime on your side of the planet. My apologies Ranger Straylight, thank you for your early report and I will look for your analysis when you wake.”</p><p></p><p>“Thank you sir.” Gwenneth turned off the videophone and collapsed on the bed. It had been a long day. Just as she drifted off to sleep, she tried to remember when she had time to make a report.</p><p></p><p>She dreamt of Rojo. Wide fields of red fruit. She knew that it had been banned nearly 40 years earlier when it was found to make a powerful psychotropic drug. The drug was worse than any other drug on the streets, and it affected almost every sentient race. It was extremely addictive and was a drug pushers dream. Oddly enough, the green variety of the same plant could not be turned into a drug. At the academy, somebody had once tried to explain how the difference in the color made this possible, but she didn’t understand the chemistry. Just after graduation, she had taken part in a Rojo raid on Corpco in the New Streel system. She remembered descending on the farm. The family was quite accommodating. They didn’t realize it was illegal to grow red chili plants. She still remembered the sad look on the boys face as he helped load the chilis into a truck to be incinerated. [wade.jpg]</p><p></p><p>In the morning, Gwenneth refreshed her memory of Corpco. It was founded by Streel a few decades back in an attempt to enter the agriculture market. Right around the time that red chili was banned because of Rojo. It was shortly after this that Streel profits really accelerated. Was it coincidence? Gwenneth didn’t believe in coincidence. </p><p></p><p>Morris called mid-morning. He looked like he had been up all night. “Gwenneth, I gotcher tape. Man, yer should see this work. It’s bee-uterful. It was rigged ter blow if yer hit play or eject. It’s a good thing yer a smart girl. Umm, yer want me to get rid of the Tornadium or do yer want it?”</p><p></p><p>“Morning Morris, yeah, I am a smart girl. Smart enough to make you promise not to sell explosives on the street. You got that Morris? If I hear you sold that stuff, I will personally come down on you. I’ll come get the tape this afternoon. I have a few things to check first.” Gwenneth hung up before Morris could argue. Ideas were forming in her head and she wanted to access the Star Law library, but not from her room. </p><p></p><p>She visited Mick. Mick was a former Star Law Marshal. He had worked the Rim worlds for years before he got caught in a firefight with a Rojo gang. He lived, and the doctors had fixed a lot of the damage, but it made Mick feel old, so he retired. </p><p></p><p>“What you have here Gwenneth is a classic setup. You are right, it sounds like your assassin knew you were on your way upstairs. Somehow, somebody has you tapped. The question is, how?”</p><p></p><p>Gwenneth studied Mick for a few minutes. “I have a theory on that. Tell me, why do we have such serious security audits?”</p><p>“Oh Gwenneth, that is history. People start to feel a little nervous when you have a bunch of well trained gunslingers running around that can impose martial law on a planet. They want to have accountability for those folks. Especially a few years back when you had one guy go bad. Surely you learned all that at the Academy.”</p><p></p><p>“Yeah, Bjorn Dremott. I remember looking up his biography. He had close ties to the agriculture board for Streel. I think he might be our assassin.”</p><p></p><p>“What makes you say that? He was discharged from Star Law and almost faced prison time.”</p><p></p><p>Mick shook his head. “Yes, but he didn’t go to prison. Afterwards, he kind of just faded away.”</p><p></p><p>“That’s my point Mick, a Star Law Ranger gone bad doesn’t just fade away. Tell me, what does the AT-300 designate?” </p><p></p><p>Mick leaned back. “The Audit Trail series of minicomps uses cutting edge encryption to provide a constant data stream of the actions of a Star Law agent in the field. You know the marketing as well as I do.”</p><p></p><p>Gwenneth leaned forward. “Yes, but I don’t know who makes them. Tell me Mick, would you be interested in running a query on that computer in the back room? I know you are only semi-retired.”</p><p></p><p>Mick looked intrigued. He stood and gestured for Gwenneth to help him walk back through the house. It took them a few tries to dig up the names of the relevant companies. In the end, they knew that the AT-300 was manufactured by SecureCo, a subsidiary of MerCo, with a heavy investment of the Greater Vrusk Mutual Prosperity Institution, a subsidiary of Streel. Further digging finally pulled up the information that Vlad Dremott sat on the Board of Directors for SecureCo. </p><p></p><p>“Mick, do me a favor and see if you can find any property that is owned by anybody in the Dremott family here. I have a hunch that I can blow this latest Rojo ring open if I can anything like that.”</p><p></p><p>“Sure thing Gwenneth. If there is a chance to get more Rojo off the street …”</p><p></p><p>“I know Mick.”</p><p></p><p>Gwenneth picked up the microtape at Morris’. She found a quiet little hill outside of town to listen to it. Somehow, she ‘forgot’ to turn on the encryption and recording of her bodycomp. Most of the tape was erased, except for the end. Ken was talking.</p><p></p><p>“Yah boss, we took care of the snitch. He had some microtape with a whole bunch’a company history. It’s cool though, we stashed the tape back at the beach house. The egg is the key” Ken laughed that harsh laugh that all Yazarians seem to have.</p><p></p><p>“Well Ken, I think that about takes care of everything. I’ll talk to you and M&M later.”</p><p></p><p>“Yah boss, later.”</p><p></p><p>Mick called a few hours later, “Gwenneth, I think I have a property of interest for you. Oddly enough, it is located near one of Star Law’s hidden transmission stations. Quite a coincidence don’t you think?”</p><p></p><p>“Let me guess, it’s a beach house right?”</p><p></p><p>“Hmm, good guess Gwenneth. Another coincidence?”</p><p></p><p>“You know I don’t believe in coincidence Mick. What’s the address?”</p><p></p><p>Gwenneth had to break a window to get into the beach house. Yazarian hair was all over the furniture. She looked around for all the normal hiding places. More beeping and she answered her com. “Ranger Straylight.”</p><p></p><p>The technician on the other end was calm. “Yes Ranger, we have a match on that DNA you sent over last night. Are you at a place where you can receive it?”</p><p></p><p>Gwenneth thought about the nearby transmission station. Time was running out. “Yes, go ahead.”</p><p></p><p>“We have a visual identification as well. Subject is Bjorn Dremott. Visual transmitting now.”</p><p></p><p>Gwenneth stared at the picture hanging from the wall. Below it was a decorative egg, open. [secret3.jpg] Dremott had already found the microtape. Looking out the window she saw a man walking down the beach with a hat pulled low over his eyes. He looked a lot like the picture of Bjorn Dremott.</p><p></p><p>Rushing out onto the beach, she saw him start running. Suddenly, he jumped into the water, a globe encircling him. He was running on the water, trying to make his way across the bay. [plod.jpg] Stopping on the beach, Gwenneth raised the Rafflur M-3. Her finger rested on the trigger, ready to unleash a tight beam of accelerated protons. “Freeze, Star Law!”</p><p></p><p>Dremott turned and flipped her off, he kept going. She pulled the trigger. A bright white flash hit the globe and caused it to glow. Dremott was shielded! With a grin, Gwenneth pulled out the needler. She pulled the trigger. *pop* “I said freeze Dremott.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BSF, post: 1500258, member: 13098"] [b]Rojo[/b] NiTessine vs BardStephenFox AKA David Moore Gwenneth Straylight slapped a third storage module into the AT-300 humming away in the hotel room. She flicked the transmit button on her bodycomp and ran through a test sequence. She studied the AT-300’s readout for a moment. Then, satisfied that transmissions were working correctly, she flicked on the ‘Encrypt’ button. From here on out, her bodycomp would encrypt the data being beamed back to the AT-300. Internal Affairs auditing was a pain at times, but it never even entered Gwenneth’s mind to conveniently ‘forget’ to start the recording. Picking up the omnoculars sitting on the window sill, she made sure that the data cable was plugged into her bodycomp. She raised them to her eyes and began her running monologue. “Star Law Ranger Gwenneth Straylight: Subjects are currently relaxing in a hot spring. Two Yazarians, Male and Female. Markings on fur consistent with suspects known as Kenchar Hilo and Marhina Mato. Other occupants of the pool include a Dralasite that hotel records show is an independent clothing sales representative. Kdikit local police have been very cooperative and have formed a cordon around the hotel. As well, they have provided two officers to assist with the arrest. We are waiting for the innocent to vacate the area before we move in as the suspects are known to be violent.” Gwenneth continued her observation of the two Yazarians while checking in with the officers assigned to assist her. She had briefed all of them the night before on Kenchar and Marhina. Ken and M&M were both former employees of MerCo before being dismissed for excessive violence. Now, the lovers were allegedly the head of the local Rojo trade. Gwenneth had worked for months with a dealer turned informant to create an airtight case against the two Yazarians. Two weeks ago, the informant had sent Gwenneth a tight-band, encrypted message telling her that Ken and M&M were fronts for something bigger, much bigger. The next day, the informant had disappeared, only to reappear three days later. He was partially cooked from repeated Maser fire, one of Ken’s favored methods of disposing of competition, and turncoats. Finally, the Dralasite appeared to have enough of the hot water. Pulling itself from the water, it extruded two legs and a third arm. Drying itself off, it was walking again. Gwenneth unplugged the omnoculars and switched over to her helmet. Activating the Dis-Viz progit, she continued recording. “All units, it’s a go. We are moving in now..” She was out the patio door and drawing her Rafflur M-3 as the Kdikit agents assigned to assist with the arrest flanked her. She tried to forget that Ken and M&M were well trained, violent mercenaries that had moved on to the drug trade. This was just another bust. Rounding corner, the Rafflur came up and she braced it in both hands while leveling it at the two Yazarians. “Freeze, Star Law!” The two Yazarians were seated in the hot spring, steam rose up from the water around them. [steam.jpg] They regarded her with contempt and Gwenneth tensed. If they decided to fight … The sound of distant thunder and then the water in the pool leapt into the air. Gwenneth was thrown to the ground as blood and water rained down on her. Hours later the preliminary results were back from the Kdikit police forensics team. Somebody had left a few grenades at the bottom of the pool, with a remote trigger. Whoever triggered the explosion was nearby at the time. Somebody wanted Ken and M&M dead. It was quite a coincidence that the explosion happened just before Gwenneth was able to arrest them. Gwenneth never believed in coincidence. Back in the hotel room, she slapped more storage modules into the AT-300 and pulled up the hotel registry. In a few moments, she had the room number of the Dralasite. Surprisingly enough, he hadn’t checked out. Of course, a good assassin wouldn’t do anything that obvious. Gwenneth grabbed the Forensic-CAS from the case at the foot of her bed. She was trained on how to use it to quickly analyze an area, but any serious analysis would have to be deferred to one of the Sci-Techs. She slung the CAS over her shoulder and checked to make sure the bodycomp was still transmitting. Gwenneth took the stairs up the twelve stories to the Dralasite’s room. Reaching the door to the room, she paused and listened. She could hear a faint hissing noise. Pulling a sealed envelope from a zipper pocket on her leg, she broke the seal and pulled out a master room key for the hotel. Holding the key in her left hand, she drew a small needler from a hidden holster at the small of her back. At 45 cm long, the Rafflur M-3 was a very good long pistol, but it was a poor choice for close quarter fighting. Besides, the needler was much quieter. She slid the key in the door, heard the beep as the lock disengaged, and rushed through the doorway. She crouched with the needler held up as she scanned the room. The window was open and the drapes were waving in the night air. The round table in the corner held a microtape player and a blue bowl, turned upside down. The whirring sound was coming from the microtape player as it was speed erasing the tape. With an expletive, Gwenneth jumped across the room and turned the microtape player off. A large, low box in the corner caught her eye. On the side, she could see the Streel logo for a floater disk. Leaning out the window, she saw a dark form on the ground run around the corner of the building. With another expletive, she kicked the box. If she had only been a little faster … Still, it was an amazing coincidence that whoever was in this room decided to leave just as she arrived. No, it wasn’t coincidence. The person had left in a hurry, otherwise the microtape wouldn’t be here. Somehow, the person knew she was coming. A quick examination of the rest of the room revealed a mess in the bathtub. The Forensic-CAS indicated that it had once been a body suit to masquerade as a Dralasite. The ceramic cone for the plastid was still sitting in the mess of goo. Gwenneth paced the room, thinking. Whoever she was looking for had been in a hurry. So, they likely left some evidence behind. The floater disk box was one start, but how many floater disks did Streel sell in a year? Millions? Still, it was a place to start. The body suit in the tub might have something the Sci-Techs could pull out, but the Forensic-CAS had indicated that the plastid had done a thorough job. What about the plastid? Gwenneth returned to the bathroom, put on some gloves and picked up the ceramic cone. Inside, she could see the MerCo logo. Perhaps the assassin was somebody with affiliations with MerCo? That would be bad. Even MerCo was good about ignoring former employees. If MerCo were still interested in Ken and M&M, then perhaps they still had some corporate ties. No, Mega-Corp ties. After the Corporate Wars, MerCo was a legitimate Mega Corporation. Gwenneth thought back to the classes she had at Star Law Academy. MerCo was closely allied with Streel. They sometimes shared research and there were numerous accounts of them sharing resources. Gwenneth eyed the floater disk box. Returning to the table she reached for the microtape player, then paused. Why did the supposed assassin leave it here? It was portable and wouldn’t have been a problem on a floater board. She brought up the Forensic-CSA and scanned the player. She watched the results scroll up the screen. Somebody had very recently wiped it down with a cleaning solution. But, there was also the chemical signature for Tornadium D-19. The microtape player was rigged to blow up. Very carefully, Clarice slid the player into a hip pouch. Keying on the com-link, she requested a forensic team to come examine the room. The local police would collect up the goo in the tub and run the usual checks on the floater disk box. The microtape player was the best chance to get something useful as far as evidence was concerned. Just before she walked out the door, she stopped. Turning back to the table, she looked at the upside down bowl. Somebody had been holding that recently. Striding across the room quickly, she picked up the bowl and ran the Forensic-CSA over it and watched the screen. Human DNA. Holding the bowl up, a smile tugged at her lips. [bowl.jpg] Whoever was in here forgot to wipe down the bowl. Gwenneth made a trip downtown to drop off the microtape player with a tech she knew, Morris loved to take things apart and put them together, and he had a little demolition experience from a stint in the military. He was tired, but intrigued and told her to come back in the morning. Gwenneth shot off the DNA information and requested a match out of the main database. Maybe she would get lucky and come back with some perp info. As she settled onto the hotel bed, she heard the insistent beeping on an incoming call. With a sigh, she answered it. “Ranger Straylight, I was just reading the reports from last night. It looks like your thugs got themselves blown up. I’m wondering why you haven’t closed the case and returned to the office.” Commissioner Culp could be a bit of a hardass, and he often forgot that some of his agents might be operating half a planet away. “Yes sir, the Yazarians appear to have been assassinated. But, my informant led me to believe that they were merely working for a larger organization. I’m trying to ascertain the veracity of that claim.” “Are you sure you aren’t taking this too personally Ranger?” “No sir, but I am tired. Perhaps in the morning I will re-evaluate my thoughts.” Commissioner Culp blinked. “Oh yes, it is still nighttime on your side of the planet. My apologies Ranger Straylight, thank you for your early report and I will look for your analysis when you wake.” “Thank you sir.” Gwenneth turned off the videophone and collapsed on the bed. It had been a long day. Just as she drifted off to sleep, she tried to remember when she had time to make a report. She dreamt of Rojo. Wide fields of red fruit. She knew that it had been banned nearly 40 years earlier when it was found to make a powerful psychotropic drug. The drug was worse than any other drug on the streets, and it affected almost every sentient race. It was extremely addictive and was a drug pushers dream. Oddly enough, the green variety of the same plant could not be turned into a drug. At the academy, somebody had once tried to explain how the difference in the color made this possible, but she didn’t understand the chemistry. Just after graduation, she had taken part in a Rojo raid on Corpco in the New Streel system. She remembered descending on the farm. The family was quite accommodating. They didn’t realize it was illegal to grow red chili plants. She still remembered the sad look on the boys face as he helped load the chilis into a truck to be incinerated. [wade.jpg] In the morning, Gwenneth refreshed her memory of Corpco. It was founded by Streel a few decades back in an attempt to enter the agriculture market. Right around the time that red chili was banned because of Rojo. It was shortly after this that Streel profits really accelerated. Was it coincidence? Gwenneth didn’t believe in coincidence. Morris called mid-morning. He looked like he had been up all night. “Gwenneth, I gotcher tape. Man, yer should see this work. It’s bee-uterful. It was rigged ter blow if yer hit play or eject. It’s a good thing yer a smart girl. Umm, yer want me to get rid of the Tornadium or do yer want it?” “Morning Morris, yeah, I am a smart girl. Smart enough to make you promise not to sell explosives on the street. You got that Morris? If I hear you sold that stuff, I will personally come down on you. I’ll come get the tape this afternoon. I have a few things to check first.” Gwenneth hung up before Morris could argue. Ideas were forming in her head and she wanted to access the Star Law library, but not from her room. She visited Mick. Mick was a former Star Law Marshal. He had worked the Rim worlds for years before he got caught in a firefight with a Rojo gang. He lived, and the doctors had fixed a lot of the damage, but it made Mick feel old, so he retired. “What you have here Gwenneth is a classic setup. You are right, it sounds like your assassin knew you were on your way upstairs. Somehow, somebody has you tapped. The question is, how?” Gwenneth studied Mick for a few minutes. “I have a theory on that. Tell me, why do we have such serious security audits?” “Oh Gwenneth, that is history. People start to feel a little nervous when you have a bunch of well trained gunslingers running around that can impose martial law on a planet. They want to have accountability for those folks. Especially a few years back when you had one guy go bad. Surely you learned all that at the Academy.” “Yeah, Bjorn Dremott. I remember looking up his biography. He had close ties to the agriculture board for Streel. I think he might be our assassin.” “What makes you say that? He was discharged from Star Law and almost faced prison time.” Mick shook his head. “Yes, but he didn’t go to prison. Afterwards, he kind of just faded away.” “That’s my point Mick, a Star Law Ranger gone bad doesn’t just fade away. Tell me, what does the AT-300 designate?” Mick leaned back. “The Audit Trail series of minicomps uses cutting edge encryption to provide a constant data stream of the actions of a Star Law agent in the field. You know the marketing as well as I do.” Gwenneth leaned forward. “Yes, but I don’t know who makes them. Tell me Mick, would you be interested in running a query on that computer in the back room? I know you are only semi-retired.” Mick looked intrigued. He stood and gestured for Gwenneth to help him walk back through the house. It took them a few tries to dig up the names of the relevant companies. In the end, they knew that the AT-300 was manufactured by SecureCo, a subsidiary of MerCo, with a heavy investment of the Greater Vrusk Mutual Prosperity Institution, a subsidiary of Streel. Further digging finally pulled up the information that Vlad Dremott sat on the Board of Directors for SecureCo. “Mick, do me a favor and see if you can find any property that is owned by anybody in the Dremott family here. I have a hunch that I can blow this latest Rojo ring open if I can anything like that.” “Sure thing Gwenneth. If there is a chance to get more Rojo off the street …” “I know Mick.” Gwenneth picked up the microtape at Morris’. She found a quiet little hill outside of town to listen to it. Somehow, she ‘forgot’ to turn on the encryption and recording of her bodycomp. Most of the tape was erased, except for the end. Ken was talking. “Yah boss, we took care of the snitch. He had some microtape with a whole bunch’a company history. It’s cool though, we stashed the tape back at the beach house. The egg is the key” Ken laughed that harsh laugh that all Yazarians seem to have. “Well Ken, I think that about takes care of everything. I’ll talk to you and M&M later.” “Yah boss, later.” Mick called a few hours later, “Gwenneth, I think I have a property of interest for you. Oddly enough, it is located near one of Star Law’s hidden transmission stations. Quite a coincidence don’t you think?” “Let me guess, it’s a beach house right?” “Hmm, good guess Gwenneth. Another coincidence?” “You know I don’t believe in coincidence Mick. What’s the address?” Gwenneth had to break a window to get into the beach house. Yazarian hair was all over the furniture. She looked around for all the normal hiding places. More beeping and she answered her com. “Ranger Straylight.” The technician on the other end was calm. “Yes Ranger, we have a match on that DNA you sent over last night. Are you at a place where you can receive it?” Gwenneth thought about the nearby transmission station. Time was running out. “Yes, go ahead.” “We have a visual identification as well. Subject is Bjorn Dremott. Visual transmitting now.” Gwenneth stared at the picture hanging from the wall. Below it was a decorative egg, open. [secret3.jpg] Dremott had already found the microtape. Looking out the window she saw a man walking down the beach with a hat pulled low over his eyes. He looked a lot like the picture of Bjorn Dremott. Rushing out onto the beach, she saw him start running. Suddenly, he jumped into the water, a globe encircling him. He was running on the water, trying to make his way across the bay. [plod.jpg] Stopping on the beach, Gwenneth raised the Rafflur M-3. Her finger rested on the trigger, ready to unleash a tight beam of accelerated protons. “Freeze, Star Law!” Dremott turned and flipped her off, he kept going. She pulled the trigger. A bright white flash hit the globe and caused it to glow. Dremott was shielded! With a grin, Gwenneth pulled out the needler. She pulled the trigger. *pop* “I said freeze Dremott.” [/QUOTE]
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