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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shadowdancer" data-source="post: 1819616" data-attributes="member: 515">Vasilii, alone on the Oser’s bridge, takes a moment amid the quiet hum of the workstations and apparent calm on the ship to close his eyes and reflect on the situation and how it’s developed, mostly recalling the chatter over the suit comms. Mark: "But I’m a business man, not a pirate. All I want is one of the cubes. We know that you still have two onboard. Tell your crew to bring one of the cubes to the airlock, and we’ll let you go after it's safely onboard and we’re away." "Hmm, they knew we still had them," Vasilii thinks to himself, "probably courtesy of our blonde-haired friend. Damn, what was I thinking, bringing her aboard?" Aidan: "I had not realized that anyone else of the legal persuasion was on shipboard. . . . In the meanwhile, please be informed that, according to Imperial statute IM3419.25 paragraph 34 that the crews of ships facing piratical activity are specifically exempted from liability, both individually and generally, . . . " "What were the odds," Vasilii muses, "that he would happen to know that much about Imperial law?" He sighs in mild resignation. Aidan: "Lady and gentlemen, after you’ve locked down the crew of the Oser, you may want to check the inspection numbers of those cubes. You can do that under blacklight. I’d be happy to show you the Imperial Warrant certifying the contents of the cubes. . . . " " ‘The Imperial Warrant’?" Vasilii wonders to himself, opening his eyes and sitting upright. "No. Oh, no, no, no," he mutters under his breath, calmly shaking his head in exasperation as he mentally adds up the sum of Aidan’s actions up to this point. He gets up, heads out the iris from the bridge and turns to speak to Ian, but stops himself as he looks at Guderin. He looks back at Ian and holds up a finger to suggest "hold on a minute," then turns and heads further into the lounge area. -----Ian gives Vasilii a questioning look, raises one eyebrow and watches him enter the lounge area, heading to where Swann and Saro are. He then drags Guderin to join the rest of the pirates and heads over to where the others are meeting. -----Vasilii sees Swann opening the portacomp to start accessing it and puts up a hand to suggest he hold on for a minute. "Wait. That could be considered evidence tampering." Swann looks at him with a mischievous smile on his face. "No, it's evidence copying." Vasilii then gestures to Saro to come join them for a private chat. Once they’re all together, he gestures for everyone to turn their comm mikes off, and then speaks in a low voice: "Guys, I just remembered the good mister Silver saying something in passing about having an ‘Imperial Warrant’ pertaining to those mystery boxes we’ve got stashed away. Color me rambunctious on this, but it would seem to me that the only folks who would have Imperial Warrants would be Imperial law enforcement officers. You don’t think there’s a chance he could be one, do you? I mean, annoying as he is, he does seem to know a good bit about Imperial law, so it would fit, especially if he could produce a badge along with that warrant. "In either case, the thought also occurred to me that everyone else on the Keaven currently has their hands full, which leaves no one to keep an eye on him. After thinking about it, I think I’d rather have him over here where he can’t get at anyone else on our ship or at the computer. Or at those boxes." Swann makes sure his suit comm is turned off, then says in a low voice, "I don’t think Silver is an Imperial law enforcement officer. I think he’s just an Imperial pain in the ass. I say let Kevon and Vargas baby-sit him — we’ve got enough to worry about over here as it is. "If he were going to pull a badge, he would have done it already. I think we should just wait until after the authorities arrive and take care of the Oser and her crew. Then we can find out what Mr. Silver knows or thinks he knows about the boxes. If we need to, we can always space him in jump with the boxes," he says with a laugh. -----"Kevon," says Vargas on the bridge, "you think we ought to turn around and head back to Sentry for repairs, or shake the dust off of our boots and never come back? I mean, who knows how many potential enemies are back there, right?" "For you folks, maybe," Kevon replies with a smile. "I’ll just hop on the next INS out of Sentry if I need to. But if the ship can manage through jump space in her condition, I say we continue on — even if it means putting up with Mr. Silver for a week." "I’m going back to check and see that Silver makes it to his room. OK?" The former Scout gets up and, one hand resting on his holstered auto pistol, leaves the bridge. "Don’t let him talk you to death," the lieutenant commander calls out as he continues to monitor the comms. -----Saro thinks for a moment on Vasilii’s and Swann’s comments. "I think I have to agree with Mr. Hellinic on this one. It may be best to stay put for the moment. As much as I would like to get this man into the sickbay and for somebody to go sit with Mr. Silver, it seems all too much like the old Missionaries and Cannibals problem — and I never was any good at those problems. "Help should be here soon, I think I can keep my patient hanging on that long and hopefully those aboard the Keavon can deal with the Aidan Problem. We definitely need to have a heart-to-heart with Mr. Silver when this is resolved, though. "What do you think, Ian?" "I agree. Let’s sit tight here and ride this out. I would like to think that Kevon and Vargas are talented enough to keep Mr. Silver reined in until the cavalry arrives. I, too, am curious how he knows so much about the boxes, and the fact that we even have them." Saro keeps is voice low as he says, "Do we want to continue with my Randoxyvil ploy? I figure we’ve got one shot to try to get some info out of our friend in there before our help arrives. I’ve got an idea if you want to follow my lead. But if we don’t get anywhere, our bluff will be called. As much as I hope these vermin get spaced, I cannot allow myself to be party to any medical malfeasance." Ian, with his voice lowered as well, says, "I don't think we’ll get any more info outta that piece of space trash," glancing at Guderin lying on the floor. "I think he was telling the truth about not knowing much. Never hurts to try, though," Ian ends with a grin. Then a concerned look crosses his face, "By the way. What are we gonna tell the Imps when they arrive? If they find out that the pirates were after some contraband hidden on our ship — might not bode too well for us, ya think?"</blockquote>

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