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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shadowdancer" data-source="post: 1519483" data-attributes="member: 515">Chapter XXIXDate: 123-993Place: Medway, Bromley, Alief Leaving the group of 12 Bromlians staring forlornly at the sky, the Bray Keaven starts its decontamination and then heads for the reception station just inside the quarantine zone once the external and cargo hold decontamination is complete. When the far trader lands, Bromlian military personnel in biohazard gear enter the Bray Keaven through the decom airlock and escort the Hutch family off the ship. The Hutch family appears very grateful though a little apprehensive at what is going to happen to them. They thank Darishun — and Marcus and Emile and Martha — profusely though they can’t see anyone other than Darishun. After a break to spray down the insides of the cargo hold and grab some lunch, the Bray Keaven is off on the next pickup: a group of 10 who are holed up in a mansion in the Heights Quarter, a rich enclave near the center of the capital. -----Approaching the center of town, Marcus and Emile see that this area of Medway is quite green. Water is quite precious on this dry world, and to have such a display of greenery speaks of a wide income disparity. On the other hand, like the rest of Medway, a number of wreaked vehicles and houses abound throughout the enclave. Contacting the mansion where the group is holed up proves to be . . . interesting. "Hello? I am Marcus Argent, captain of the Bray Keaven. We are here to picky--- " "About damn time that you got here! We should have been picked up weeks ago. Do you know who I am?" "Sir? My manifest says Gordon McClendon and party of 9. If you will . . . " "Damn right I am. Now, I expect you to land outside the mansion grounds and send a vehicle to pick us up. You do have an air raft, don’t you?" "Sir, yes we do, but the air raft is in use right now. As I was about to say . . . " "Look here. I can make life really miserable for you if I want. You will recall your air raft and pick us up properly, and not damage any of the estate’s grounds. Do I make myself clear?" "Sir, that is not . . . " The exchange continues in the same vein for several minutes, after which the Bray Keaven is directly over the mansion. Rather than continue the argument, Marcus hands the controls over to Emile, heads to the starboard turret, and proceeds to clear out a landing zone with the lasers. Being a life–long field Scout, Vargas finds he likes Argent’s approach to the situation; it’s direct and efficient. It might just teach McClendon that he’s not the boss in every situation, no matter his social standing, but Emile wouldn’t bank on it. "Nicely done, Argent," is his only spoken remark before he begins to bring the ship down. He sets the Bray Keaven down in the wreckage of some trees and statuary. "Oh well, there goes the lawn I guess," says the former Scout as he runs the post flight check sequence. -----Martha says little, but is frustrated by McClendon’s constant demands. She smiles when the Captain decides to take matters into his own hands, and nods approvingly as she steps onto the bridge. She watches her sensor arrays, and prepares for immediate dust-off, if requested. Marcus and Emile suit up, and enter the cargo hold with Darishun. On the bridge, Martha is still trying to deal with an irate Gordon McClendon, who is now sputtering about suing for damages. Despite her lack of training in the diplomatic arts, Martha tries to keep calm as she reports that their orders come directly from his local government, and that he should be directing his objections to the local authorities. Since he doesn’t, she begins modulating her microphone up and down over the narrow range of commlink frequencies he’s on. She raises her voice over the resultant squelches and squawks. "Sir, sir, what's that, sir?" Static hisses. "You’re breaking up! You’re breaking . . . " Static hisses. " . . . ust be solar flares! The person you really should speak to is . . . " and then disconnects. She then begins intermittently jamming his comm frequencies, while reporting on the personal comm link to the others with a grin. "Mister Connections appears to be having technical issues with his comm unit. Captain, I would like to ask if you could inform him of the recent solar flare activity today, and how it might be impacting his antiquated technologies." With a soft chuckle, she continues to monitor the situation. "Change of plans, gentlemen," Marcus announces as he reaches the cargo hold. "Emile, stay here at the cargo bay. Darishun, my friend, you’re with me. Look big and intimidating." He smiles mischievously at Darishun as he heads for the mansion’s front door, his hand resting casually on his pistol. "Aww, and I got all dressed up and everything. More seriously, you want me to arm up Argent?" asks Vargas. "Just a sidearm, I think, Emile," he answered. "As much as this jerk needs a lesson in humility, I don’t think he’ll put up much resistance." "Roger that." "Big and intimidating? I suppose I could try to appear big and intimidating, but wouldn’t that be a stretch for me?" Darishun replies with a low sonic rumbling rather reminiscent of a mild earthquake and a rather alarming smile. Darishun then grabs four biohazard suits (ah, the advantages of four arms) and then follows Marcus down the cargo ramp. "Have fun you two," Vargas says as they leave. -----As Darishun and Marcus get to the bottom of the ramp, they notice a couple of decomposing bodies at the foot of the ramp. It’s hard to tell given the decomposition, but it appears that a high–power slug thrower of some sort, possibly automatic has hit the bodies. As Marcus and Darishun briefly examine the bodies, a speaker barks, "Halt right there! You human may approach closer, but if that THING steps any closer, we will open fire! Bring the suits to us immediately so we may depart before the scum mobs the far trader! Be snappy about it!" Darishun, still sounding amused remarks to Marcus, "Are you sure that looking big and intimidating is the right approach? Perhaps if I crouch down a bit, I won’t seem so large." After a beat, the Virushi more somberly and sadly asks, "Perhaps we should have gone to pick up the other group first? I really would like to help the most people possible, and if these people have recovered from the plague, they could be the key. But, it seems like this could be a little trying." "Now you listen here!" Marcus yells back at the mansion, his auto pistol instantly in his hand. "Darishun is a valued member of my crew, a top-flight medic, and a bloody pacifist! You either put your damned weapons down, or we will leave your sorry asses here to take your chances!I will not put up with you threatening my crew! He comes, or we both go!" -----In the cargo bay, Vargas smiles a rueful smile while staying out of line of sight of the mansion. "People do crazy things under pressure Argent," he thinks. "I hope you’ll keep that in mind the next time I ask about weapons." Vargas draws his auto pistol, holding it at his side. -----A few beats after Marcus’ threat to just walk away, comes "OK, OK. But if that thing charges, you should know that I’ve hunted beasts larger than he is." Darishun looks briefly amused, turns to Marcus, mutters, "I think that I’m terrified now," and adds more seriously, "What is it with humans, weapons, and threats?" "I don’t know, my friend. Sometimes I think that with all of our technology and ‘evolution,’ we’re still only barbarians with guns," Argent replies. Marcus and Darishun approach the mansion entrance, but no shots are fired, and the outer door opens once they are at the door. When they enter the inner area, the outer door closes, and the inner door opens, revealing a hostile looking man in his 30s. Darishun shakes his head sadly while Marcus commands, "Lower that rifle, or we walk." Warily, he lowers the rifle and goes to join the rest of the inhabitants. The rest of the pickup actually proceeds as can be expected from the reception. The party of 10 turns out to be Gordon McClendon, his wife, their two adult sons and daughters–in–law, and four servants. The servants look very relieved, possibly because the possibility of escape from being confined with McClendon and his family. Gordon McClendon and one of his sons are still pretty belligerent, but both seem to mute their belligerence a bit when Darishun decides that he needs to help them into their biohazard suits. In spite of the son’s claim with his rifle, he does seem a little intimidated by the Virushi. Of course, Gordon McClendon and his family insist on being put into the biohazard suits first and then escorted out. He briefly puts up a protest when told he can’t bring the huge mound of possessions that has been assembled, but then quiets again when Darishun sidles up to him and politely suggests that he get moving. Darishun escorts the family to the cargo hold and leaves them under Emile’s watchful eye (and his auto pistol) and returns with another four biohazard suits. The servants are much more appreciative and thankful. Once everyone is on board and the rear cargo ramp is sealed, Martha lifts the Bray Keaven off to hover above the mansion until Marcus and Emile can complete their decontamination process. Once completed, Marcus and Emile then return to the bridge and guide the Bray Keaven through an uneventful jaunt to the upper atmosphere and down again. Darishun stays with the group of 10 in the cargo hold and spends the rest of the trip trying to convince Gordon and his sons the wisdom of being polite and finding reasonable, non-violent solutions to situations (a futile effort, but the Virushi’s close presence seems to stifle any protest). Once the Bray Keaven lands at the reception area and the Bromlian military arrives to escort the group off, Gordon McClendon is back in normal form, protesting gross abuse to his family and property, and loudly threatening lawsuits. -----The crew flies the Bray Keaven to its landing spot at the airport, completes their decontamination of the cargo hold, and performs some normal maintenance before getting dinner in one of the Bromlian military mess halls. After the Marine rations, the fresher cooked local food is delicious to their abused palates. While they are eating a Bromlian corporal sits down with them and remarks, "There is someone who would like to meet you for a business proposition that could be very much worth your while. If you are curious, please go to the Yellow Dog Cafe in town in an hour and ask for Mr. Zakaria." With that, he gets up and quickly goes to join a group of soldiers at another table. Marcus looks at Martha, Emile, and Darishun, shaking his head in disbelief. "We just don’t have time for this," he mutters. "What do you all think?" Between bites of chow, Martha answers, "To be honest, I don’t know even if we can. We go and get caught, we might be asked to leave the planet in violation of some ImpReg or another. I’d hate to see us leave our friends behind because of that." She pauses to savor another bite. "You know, it’s not legit, or they’d have contacted you officially. Illegit crap will get us kicked out faster than no one’s business, and we don’t need to be on the Imperial blackball list. Bad for business." She ponders thoughtfully over another bite. " ’Sides, if they need us specifically bad enough, they’ve got ways to make contact, I’m sure. Of course, chances are, if it’s for us in particular, the only people that really know us here are the people we’ve saved, and one of them doesn’t have anything nice to say about us." She sits her fork down with a clatter. "In fact, he could be trying to set us up." By now, it is obvious Martha’s rambling just a bit. "No, sir, I wouldn’t trust it. That’s what I think about it, anyway." She looks over at Emile. "I don't know much about business," replies Vargas, "but this guy might know or have something we could use and is just trying to contact us. I say we have someone from the Brom government go with whoever of us talks to this guy, if we send anyone at all. That way, if it’s illegal, we’re clear with the Broms, and have a local as witness. If it’s legit, we just have the local sign a non-disclosure agreement. But like I said, I’m not a businessman." Darishun pauses while eating his fifth helping of a large bowl of salad and comments, "It seems odd that a legitimate businessman would choose to contact us in such an odd fashion. One would think that he could have just as easily commed us with a dinner invitation. "In any case, I think that we should do whatever we can to help the people most in need. I do not think that a business venture qualifies as being helpful to people in need." "That’s why I don’t think the offer’s legit, and since we didn’t get any info,’ Martha says, turning her head toward Emile, "I don’t think it’s about helping the locals, Emile. Then again, it may be about helping a few of them, at least to get ahead of the rest in a financial sense. Could even be looking for a way offworld. I’m not opposed to such business, so long as no one gets hurt, but not on a quarantine planet that’s been interdicted and is being actively patrolled." Martha gestures toward the ceiling, indicating the High Guard stationed above the planet, with her fork. "Too many eyes are watching, you know. Not a good risk." "I’m inclined to agree," Argents relies between bites of food. "A side trip serves no purpose at the moment. If this guy is desperate to meet us, then he’ll probably try to contact us later." Marcus shovels another bite of army chow into his mouth and pauses thoughtfully for a moment. "I am curious, however, about who this mystery contact is," he adds. "I wonder if the Bromlians would be willing to send someone to scope the place out and see who, if anyone, shows up." The crew decides to pass on the mysterious dinner invitation. Marcus does inform Lt. Col. Billings about the incident. He agrees that it sounds rather odd, but declines to send anyone to investigate since the military is stretch pretty thin just keeping the quarantine in place and taking care of the refugees, which is part of the reason the Bray Keaven crew is being paid to undertake rescues. A little while later, Dr. Hays comms to inform the crew about the first groups of evacuees. The Hutch family did have the Rabbit Hemorrhagic Virus (and recovered), but show no signs of AHV. The McClendon family and servants show no signs of any viral infection (of any sort). The bad attitude is deemed to be genetic. Since the family is being as charming as ever, Dr. Hays is considering keeping the family quarantined for a week for extensive and extremely invasive tests.</blockquote>

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