Dark*Matter: Discovery, The Delphi Paradox

[Friadoc]

"Dig carefully," Nick says. "Preserve everything." Nick shoulders his gear and and starts toward the Humvee. "And watch out for curses. They're always cursed," he adds with a smile.

"Gotcha, Doc," says Cade with a smile. "Only Indiana Jones it if we have to, right?"

Upon seeing Duffmann, Cade smiles slightly as the Men in Black themesong plays in his brain.

"...These covert airstrips you guys put together, they're always too open, never enough cover getting off for my taste. And certainly not enough guards or security."

The man is Agent Duffmann. As he talked, he lit up a cigarette.

"Hence the term, covert," says Cade with a wry chuckle. "Plus, I've got a feeling that the EC Suite on the plan could handle shoulder fireds just fine until it's on the ground."

Walking past Duffmann without too much concern, Cade opens the Humvee's rear access and loads gear.

"Once it's on the ground, it's got us," says Cade in a casual tone, he's not being cocky, just matter of fact. "Which I'd say is fair odds with most anything someone would send our way."

"By the way," Cade adds with a wink and grin. "Even in our line of work, those still kill ya...I checked."

 

[Falkus]

"Meredith, good to see you," Duffmann said warmly, stepping forward and shaking her hand. "I heard about Chicago and those cultists. Nasty business that."

"Hence the term, covert," says Cade with a wry chuckle. "Plus, I've got a feeling that the EC Suite on the plan could handle shoulder fireds just fine until it's on the ground."

"I found you," Duffmann slight, with a wry smile. "Didn't know about your countermeasures though, I'll have to keep that in mind."

"Anyway, I'm in the country for the same reason you are, though I'm taking a more hands off approach. I thought I'd drop by and give you a warning about some trouble you may run into down the road. I found your landing strip, and I know your mission. That means other groups can find out too, and these guys won't be nearly as friendly as I am. There's been a lot of interest in prophecy lately, a lot of not so nice people are looking into it. Bildebergers, for instance, view it as a direct threat to their ability to manipulate stock market. They don't want anybody getting a hold of it, and they've already started killing people who are getting to close."

"What I'm saying is that if you take something valuable out of that dig site, there's going to be a lot of people who are going to be waiting to try to take it away from you. Be careful, I'd hate to see you get hurt."

 

[iwatt]

Bumming a smoke from the Free Mason, Larry puffs contentedly. "Good to see ya, Duffman. Long flight without a smoke."

"What I'm saying is that if you take something valuable out of that dig site, there's going to be a lot of people who are going to be waiting to try to take it away from you. Be careful, I'd hate to see you get hurt."

"Thanks for the heads up, man. Maybe we can repay the favor at some point. You got a number we can contact you? Some backdoor communications might save all our asses when things go south. And they always do go south."

 

[Shayuri]

Meri coughs and says, "I still have his card. We can get in touch."

She eyes Duffman and adds, "We're not really after prophecy ourselves. We're just investigating this thing. Everything I've seen so far suggests there's a pretty high price for becoming an oracle...at least by doing it here."

 

[industrygothica]

"Well, I guess it's time ot go and see what we see," Nick says, anxious to get back to his roots, so to speak.

 

[Friadoc]

"Thanks for the heads up, Duffmann," says Cade as he finishes loading up the Humvee. "I really hope no one tries to kill us."

With a more serious tone than the young man usually uses, Cade adds, "I'm really hopin' to go a mission without killin' anyone..." A bare hint of a pause breaks the sentence, "...even if they deserve it."

"By the way," Cade says to Duffmann before getting into the Humvee and starting it up. "It's nice to see you on your feet."

"Okay, folks," says Cade from the rolled down window, as the Humvee warms up. "You heard the Professor...get your cheeks in the seats."

 

[Falkus]

Duffmann handed a business card to Meredith. "This is my Europe number. Give me a call if you need help. I can't guarantee I can provide it, but I'll listen. You take care of yourselves, and be careful," he then turned and walked off towards a car (black, naturally) idling in the distance.

Photography gear and other items that national geographic reporters would be expected to carry have been stashed in the Hummvee along with your fake IDs, which misrepresent the team as being part of the National Geographic magazine. Knowing Z's talents, it would take nothing short of a dedicated FBI ID probe for someone to realize that they're fakes.

The ride is a bit bumpy, the road isn't very good, and neither is the weather. It takes about an hour to get to the site.

The dig site itself seems fairly standard. The entrance is further up the mountain, but there's a base camp where the road ends. Several tents, centered around an old cabin. You can make out some activity up near the actual dig site, but it's too far to make out any specifics.

As you arrive at the dig site, a short man with red hair and glasses in a long, tan coat approaches. You recognize him as Dr. Ryland from the files. "You must be from the National Geographics, we've been expecting you," he says, speaking quite quickly, shaking hands as they were oferred. "Come, come. We just opened up the entrance to the caverns and we've found something." He quickly took off up the mountain, not bothering to check whether your were following him or not.

 

[kinem]

Diego offerred his hand, then pulled out the camera he was given. Good timing! This could be fun.

 

[industrygothica]

Nick readies his gear and follows the man up the mountain. Along the way, he discreetly checks his weapon and makes it accessible.

 

[Friadoc]

Considering himself lucky, Cade gathers up the most relivant gear, both as part of their cover and to provide cover for their other, covert gear. Including his sidearm, which is secreted away.

Dressed for the part, Cade is wearing garb fitting to that of a field technician. A longsleeved, hunts green explorer shirt that is tucked into a pair of khaki-colored canvas cargo pants whose ends hang loosely about a pair of sturdy, well worn all-weather brown leather, hiking boots. Over all of this is a leather coat that hangs to just above his knees and, although in good condition, it has obviously seen plenty of time in the outdoors.

While Cade usually appears comfortable in the big city, as well as a lab, it's obvious from the ease of his step and movement that the young man has missed the outdoors.