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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shadowdancer" data-source="post: 2217054" data-attributes="member: 515">Chapter XXXVII Date: 174-993 and 175-993 Location: Aboard the Bray Keaven and inside the Stork & Sons repair yards Inside the Bray Keaven, Martha continues her frantic attempts to get the power plant online, the turret powered up, and the lasers warmed up to fire. -----Swann and Aidan reach the Sydite who is pinning Kevon to the repair berth floor. Swann picks up the dropped shotgun while Aidan pulls the Sydite off Kevon. The Sydite is unconscious and probably dying if not already dead. -----Ian runs to the airlock and opens the iris valve. The Vargr is still sprawled on the floor making a terrible mess. After nudging the Vargr and receiving no response, Ian unceremoniously drags the Vargr’s body back into the repair berth, leaving a dark red trail. Egg staggers to his feet, looks at Ian dragging the bloody Vargr and Sare No. 2’s bodies, screams something incoherent, and starts running towards the airlock. "Egg! Stop!" Ian says. "We have a doctor that can take a care of your injuries! Set down here and rest a second while I get Doc Saro to come over and check you out." Ian holsters his pistol, opens his arms in a friendly gesture, and attempts to get Egg to sit or lie down. Egg, his eyes wide, ducks under Ian’s arms and flies out of the berth. -----Saro rushes over to examine his latest patients. He decides that Kevon is the most severely wounded and starts to apply temporary bandages to his numerous buckshot wounds. Unfortunately, Saro only has his portable medical set with him, so he lacks the full set of field dressings and medical slow drugs that he might otherwise have. Luckily, within a minute or so, a breathless Vasilii arrives carrying the ship’s field medical kit from the ship’s locker (not Saro’s personal kit) along with a laser carbine and power pack, and Ian’s ACR. The kit still lacks any medical slow drug, but Saro at least has the supplies to field treat Kevon’s and Aidan’s wounds. Swann says, "Hey Doc, I got hit a couple of times. Can you take a look at my left arm and shoulder?" -----Holly, Keith, and Ezra confer a moment near Keith’s and Swann’s old position and then Holly comes over to watch Kevon and Aidan being treated. She bemusedly shakes her head down at the injured Naval Reserve officer and the lightly–peppered noble, and says cheerfully, "So, do you two always charge shotgun–wielding, four–armed wackos, or are you two just trying to impress me?" Continuing a bit more seriously, she asks, "So, care to explain to me what just happened?" "He," Kevon answers, indicating the fallen Sare No. 2, "was the impostor we mentioned over the comms, the one who was trying to get the cargo we had for a legitimate buyer. I guess he didn’t want to wait for our meeting. "And that Sydite goon wasn’t paying attention to me, so I knew that I could eventually hamstring him," he adds with a wry smile. "It worked for me on Tarantella IV." "Well Ma’am, all in a days work of course. It’s good to have a chance to swash the old buckle every once in a while. Of course, if a good impression comes out of it, well then so much the better." Aidan grins, clearly still quite high on adrenaline, but quite in control. -----A couple of minutes later, Martha’s power–up efforts finally bear fruit, and she swings the now–live starboard turret to point at the cube. The lasers are powered up and ready to fire. Once she realizes that there is no longer a threat, Martha powers down the systems and goes outside to help with the ensuing chaos. -----About the same time, the large cargo door leading to the high port corridor and the access door leading to the next repair berth both suddenly slide open revealing at least five variously–armed sophonts wearing SPA combat armor in each opening. A booming voice rings out: "This is Starport Authority Security. Drop all weapons and place your hands on your head immediately." Everyone in the berth complies. After a few minutes, the crew of the Bray Keaven and Holly’s trio manage to convince the tactical response team that they aren’t an immediate threat. A SPA medical response team arrives to check on Sare No. 2’s party. All are dead from their wounds. A few minutes later, a Lt. Wuajel arrives to interview everyone involved. Lt. Wuajel of the StarPort Authority carefully interviews the Bray Keaven crew, Holly’s crew, Aidan, and Egg Stork over the course of the next few hours. The interviews are conducted separately, and a few people are interviewed more than once to corroborate relevant bits. Lt. Wuajel seems rather tired and a little strung out, probably because he and his team were finishing investigating the Markov’s Daughter incident when they found out about the gunfight in the Stork & Son’s repair berth. ----- Swann says to Lt. Wuajel, "This man here," indicating the faux Sare, "tried to pass himself off as the recipient of a cargo we were contracted to deliver. Fortunately we were able to determine he was an imposter, and delivered the cargo to the intended recipient. "However, during our dealings with him, this man threatened us on several occasions. When he showed up unannounced and uninvited, with his Sydite thugs, and interrupted our business transaction with Ms. Clegg and her crewmen, I figured he meant to make good on those threats. Especially since one of the Sydites threw poor Egg into the repair berth ahead of their entrance. I thought they had killed the lad. "I believe I was the first person to see them when they entered the berth. They already had their weapons drawn. I fired at them first, but only because I believed they meant to make good on their threats and kill all of us, and because I believed they had already killed Egg." After Swann gives his first statement, Lt. Wuajel's dark face darkens even more and he dangerously asks, "So, you admit to firing first? I hope that your actions are justified by the others’ statements and any evidence we can collect." -----After interviewing Swann, Lt. Wuajel decides to interview Martha (the interviews seem to be conducted in a somewhat random or at least arbitrary order). Martha respectfully answers Lt. Wuajel's questions, though she does tend to be brief in her responses, until she gets upset. When asked about the firefight, she points at Sare-Two. "That man and his crew came in and started shooting. I panicked and tried to start up the ship’s weapons to threaten him into stopping his idiocy, because I was inside. I forgot that the weapons were cold, and because I was panicking, I just kept on going, hoping it would be enough to stop the fight — but it wasn’t." Martha looks over at the dead bodies. "I hate this. I really wish he’d just left us alone, instead of trying to kill us like he did. By St. Elvis, I wish I knew why. Do you know who these guys are?" When asked about Sare-Two, Martha starts to become agitated. "Don’t ask me! I don’t know! I thought you were the detective. All I know is this guy’s been harassing us over some damn cargo that isn’t even his, pretending to be the real client, and he’s willing to even kill to get it. You know, security sucks up here. Have you even asked Stork & Sons how creeps like this can get in here with those weapons?" Martha buttons up a lot after that. Lt. Wuajel’s expression starts out rather hard, but softens once he sees that Martha becomes fairly upset. He does dryly comment that, "I hope that you do realize that if you had fired the ship’s lasers while inside the repair berth, it would have probably seriously hurt everyone nearby as well as possibly caused significant damage to the station and anyone in the corridor beyond?" After interviewing Martha, a SPA tech is sent with Martha to retrieve relevant camera imagery from the Bray Keaven’s computer along with comm call records. ----- "Yes sir, Lieutenant. This is how the situation unfolded," Ian says. "I was standing over by the large berth doors when I see Egg here being pushed through the office door and fall in a heap to the floor, looking very much to be dead or close too it. Behind him stepped through two large Sydites brandishing weapons, with the other two behind them, also with weapons. Almost immediately I heard shots fired so I ran to the ship for cover and commenced to defend myself, ship and crew. "This person," gesturing toward Sare No. 2’s body, "posed as our business contact, attempting to trick us into completing our business with him instead of the legitimate contact. During our meeting with him and all communications, he was very threatening, so our defensive instincts were quick to respond when he dropped in unexpectedly." Ian’s interview with Lt. Wuajel goes smoothly, and Ian feels that the SPA lieutenant is keeping an open mind about the circumstances of the firefight. Ian isn’t able to gauge lieutenant’s reactions to the rest of the Bray Keaven crew because the interviews are conducted out of earshot. ----- Vasilii walks up and extends a hand to Lt. Wuajel: "Lieutenant, I don’t know if you remember me. My name’s Vasilii Kugiikiishshi, I’m the ship’s cargo super and de facto purser. We spoke earlier." He turns and gestures to Sare No. 2. "Well, as Fate would seem to have it, this is one of the gentlemen I spoke of earlier with you. We’ve been having to deal with him ever since we put into port." As he gestures to the two Sydites and the Vargr, he says, "His Sydite companions have been following him around, at least ever since we’ve been dealing with him. The Vargr is a new wrinkle to the equation, haven’t seen him before." Turning back to Lt. Wuajel, Vasilii continues. "Well, I guess to start from the beginning: For some while our ship has been in need of engine and system maintenance, and, as you can see," gestures to the underside of the bridge, "no small amount of repairs. We looked into getting the work done at Sentry, but found the costs a bit on the pricey side, especially for the funds we had available at the time. We had heard that repairs and maintenance were generally cheaper here at Fonnein, and opted to try our luck here. "Since we were headed here anyway, we looked for cargoes that were also headed this way, and we contracted for several, including one to deliver a small cargo to a named recipient here at Fonnein, with payment upon delivery. "At any rate, once we arrived here in port, this man," gesturing to Sare No. 2 again, "attempted to pass himself off as the intended recipient of the delivery. "However, he implied that we should do business ONLY with him at the price HE wanted to set — which was much less than what was contracted for — otherwise, if I recall the quote correctly, ‘things would go badly for us.’ But his impersonation of the intended recipient was also considerably flawed, and we knew almost immediately that he was an impostor, and a potentially violent one at that since his Sydite thugs were always with him. "Well, we had a contract to honor, so to avoid a confrontation, we tried to put off this man as long as possible, at least until we could deliver the cargo to the man we felt certain was the actual recipient, which we did this morning, and after that, we felt he wouldn’t have much of a reason to bother us anymore. "At least, that was the idea. We had suspected that he MIGHT still try something, even if we no longer had the cargo he was interested in, but didn’t think it likely. But until he made his move, well — you can’t preemptively arrest someone, so we hoped for the best and tried to plan for the worst. "So, fast forward to a few minutes ago. In the process of selling one of our remaining cargoes to Captain Klegg here, it would seem our ‘friend’ got a little impatient and made good on his threat. If we hadn’t been out in the berth selling our cargo, I suppose we could have just locked all the outside hatches on the ship and told him to get lost, but they walked into the berth from there," gesturing toward the airlock, "and started shooting, at least before I knew what was going on. "As for my part, I'm not much of a shot, and I knew a couple of our people who are better shots than I am were out here in the berth without guns, so I ran to our ship’s locker, grabbed the medkit and what guns I could, and by the time I got it all out here, the shooting was over. You and your men showed up a couple minutes after that." ----- After interviewing Holly, Lt. Wuajel decides to interview Aidan. "Certainly, Lieutenant, the gentleman over there," points at Sare No. 2, "came in, interrupting our business with this fine lady," points at Holly. "His minions fired at us, so naturally we sought to defend ourselves. Unfortunately, I really don’t know who the gentleman is, but he’s been following us and being most unpleasant." Holly apparently mentioned the cube, and the frequent references to "cargo transfer" haven’t gone unnoticed. Lt. Wuajel walks Aidan over to the cube to inspect it for himself. When Aidan mentions that he does have an Imperial Warrant for the cube, Lt. Wuajel looks quite surprised and a little skeptical, and comments, "Really? I’d like to see it then." The SPA lieutenant then sends one of his armed patrollers to escort Aidan to retrieve the warrant. When Aidan returns with the warrant, Lt. Wuajel examines it carefully and then passes his handcomp over the warrant (to read the embedded chip) before commenting, "Well, here is something that you don’t see very often here in the back beyond. Your warrant certifies as being legitimate, and I apologize, Mr. Silver, for my skepticism about the authenticity of the warrant and the safety of your cargo." The rest of the interviews go relatively smoothly. ----- "Well you see El Tee, I was moving cargo with the Doctor when the detritus hit the oscillator," Vargas says. "I did the stop, drop and stay until it was over. Those guys came in shooting and everyone here basically defended themselves. That guy over there," indicates faux Sare, "had an anger management problem from the first we met him. I guess he lost it looking at all this. His loss I guess. Anything else I can help you with?" ----- Saro says, "We have previously had dealings with him," indicating Sare No. 2, "when he identified himself as a buyer for some cargo we had under contract. We also had a second person that identified himself as the same buyer. Confirmation measures revealed that he," again indicating Sare No. 2, "was impersonating the legitimate buyer, so we conducted our transaction with the legitimate party and attempted to avoid the impersonator. "We were conducting other business here with Ms. Clegg and her party when he burst in with his thugs, weapons drawn. They had already incapacitated Mr. Egg on their way in. "I was helping move the cargo for Ms. Clegg into the bay when the action started. When the gunfire started, I dropped behind the crate and managed to get off a couple rounds of tranq darts, to no great avail I’m afraid. If I were a better shot perhaps they would still be alive. "If I could have prevented the loss of life, I’d be happier, but then again I’m not overly upset that it was the brigands and thugs who perished rather than their intended victims." -----Kevon, indicating Sare No. 2, says, "This gentleman was attempting to impersonate Mr. Sare de Salui, a gentleman with whom we had legitimate business with. We determined that this Sare was attempting to illegally receive our cargo, and made numerous threats against us the previous day. "While conducting business with Captain Clegg and her crew, the Sare imposter barged in with his goons and one of the repair yard workers, who we determined was unconscious, brandishing their weapons. I heard a shot as I dragged Ms. Clegg to safety, then moved to help my shipmates against our attackers." After interviewing Kevon, Lt. Wuajel does apologize to Kevon. "Commander, I’m sorry that I was unable to take your call earlier. I realize that if I had been able to do so, this scene might have been averted or at least we would have been able to respond sooner." "Given all of the excitement today, you couldn’t have known that this would turn so serious," Kevon replies in consolation. "Compared to the collision, this was a minor issue." -----Finally, several hours after the firefight, Lt. Wuajel seems relatively satisfied that the crew of the Bray Keaven and Holly’s trio were acting in reasonable self-defense. That Kevon, Vargas, Martha, Saro, and Vasilii helped in the Marellia’s Landing rescue obviously has some effect on his decision. The SPA investigative team finally decamps with a warning for no one involved to leave the station until cleared by Lt. Wuajel’s superiors — probably tomorrow morning. -----Egg Stork seems relatively traumatized, but Clay Stork does profusely thank the Bray Keaven crew for saving his brother. -----Holly, Keith, and Ezra finally get a chance to load the cube onto their small, collapsible handcart and prepare to depart. To both Kevon and Aidan, Holly says, "I think, given what happened to day, we should defer any dinner or dancing to another time? Perhaps we’ll communicate tomorrow?" Kevon smiles a wry smile. "Yeah, I’m being weighted down at the moment," he quips. "It’ll probably slow me down too much. I’ll call you tomorrow." After he plays the gentleman and escorts Holly to the door, Kevon limps back to his cutlass and retrieves it, casually checking the inside pocket of his undress uniform for the credit chit before heading back to his quarters and placing it securely in the ship’s safe when no one else is watching. Kevon spends the rest of the evening relaxing and healing, moving as little as possible. -----Ian gathers up his gauss pistol, ACR and clips. Before entering the ship, he walks over to Aidan. "So, you still have the credit chit Holly handed you?" he asks, looking intently at the Noble for a couple of seconds. Then, as if a light bulb turned on, his expression changes. "Oh, yeah, nevermind! You handed it back to Kevon just before the shooting started," Ian says, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. "Too frellin’ many distractions for the gray matter to keep it all straight! Sorry for the confusion." He then walks toward the ship shaking his head and muttering to himself. He heads to his cabin to get himself and his weapons cleaned up — not necessarily in that order — and stow his ACR and ammo. Once this is done, he heads to the lounge for a drink and a bite to eat. -----Swann watches Lt. Wuajel and his team leave the repair berth, taking the weapons of the faux Saro et al as evidence. "Damn," he thinks. "I really wanted one of those gauss pistols as a memento to add to my collection." Swann collects his weapons and returns to the ship. After Saro has checked and treated his wounds, he returns to his cabin and cleans his revolver and shotgun. "Yeah, Swann, you’ve done a hell of a job of finding a new career — one that’s nice and safe, and doesn’t involve frequent gunplay," he thinks, shaking his head ruefully as he cleans the firearms. "You’ve been part of this crew for less than three months, and you’ve already managed to get yourself shot three times. Being legit is more dangerous than being a criminal." He starts to carefully undress himself so he can shower, taking care to move his left arm as little as possible. "Maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to fire. Maybe the faux Sare just wanted to talk, or try to outbid Ms. Clegg for the cube. Maybe we could’ve reasoned with him. Maybe." Swann stops his internal debate as he closes his eyes and lets the scene inside the repair berth play over in his mind. "No, don’t start second–guessing yourself," he thinks. "Your instincts have kept you alive this long. Those Sydites meant business, the way they were throwing Egg around. People like Sare don’t have Sydites around unless they mean to use them to harm others. They came in with their weapons out, and probably wouldn’t have hesitated to use them to take the cube. No, it’s better to shoot first and ask questions later in those situations. "I would have lied to the Lieutenant about who fired first if I knew I could have counted on that Keith character to back my story. But I think Lt. Wuajel bought the self–defense angle after talking to everyone else. Oh well, we’ll just have to see how this all plays out." With that, Swann takes a shower, puts on some clean clothes, and then heads to the lounge to get something to eat. -----Saro approaches all the injured crewmembers and offer them some options. (Yes, he even offers Vasilii options and not simply knock him out cold.) He can give them a dose of Medical Slow Drug, in which case they will be knocked unconscious for approximately 24 hours while their body undergoes a fairly significant amount of healing. However, if in the highly unlikely case (yeah right) that they become injured again during the week following the treatment, any additional applications of Med Slow Drug are more likely to injure them than heal them. Alternately, Saro can oversee their long–term care. By following (stress added for Vasilii’s benefit) his instructions and restricting themselves to complete bed rest, or at the very least, a light activity level, Saro estimates that the two most wounded crew members, Kevon and Vasilii, would likely be fully healed within two weeks. After they decide which course to take, Saro will act in accordance with their wishes. Other than administering to the injured, Saro once again takes stock of his medical supplies, compiling a list of needs and desires. He also asks Martha to meet with him at some time in the near future when there is a quiet moment in order to go through some more relaxation exercises and instruction. For some odd reason, Saro feels that would be appropriate, for himself included. -----After things calm down, Martha tries to talk to Saro about her panic response, and tries to calm down. Later on that evening, she practices the breathing and meditation techniques she learned from the Doc, and tries to figure out what to do the next time. For all her 23 years of age, she doesn't have the combat experience that the other crewmembers have. Her reaction under pressure concerns her greatly, and she tries to figure out how to better handle these things in the future. -----Kevon takes Saro up on his offer for the slow drug. -----Swann listens to Saro’s offer as he eats sautéed grote tips, onions, and ’shrooms over couscous with steamed broccoli. "I believe I’ll go for the slow drug, Doc," he says. "I could use a nice, long nap. Besides, then I’ll be able to help Martha with the ship’s repairs. "By the way," he asks. "Is tonight the night Tukera is taking you and the others out to dinner to say ‘Thanks’ for the crew’s heroics this morning? If it is, better hold off on giving me the drug until you get back. I wouldn’t want to be caught sleeping on duty," he says with a smile, giving Saro a good–natured wink and slap on the back. The Doctor informs him the thank–you dinner has not yet be scheduled. -----Saro places Swann, Kevon, Aidan, and Vasilii carefully in their bunks and then injects each with Medical Slow to speed their healing. After the injured folks are out, Martha approaches Saro about her panic response. Some impromptu counseling follows, and Martha practices her relaxation exercises under Saro’s watchful eye. -----The evening passes quietly, if not completely restfully for the uninjured members of the crew. -----The next day is fairly quiet for the crew. Some press types show up to interview the crew about the incident, but are politely turned away by a couple of SPA security troopers on temporary loan from Lt. Wuajel. Vargas arranges for the speculative cargo to be offloaded and sent to the storage warehouse under his and Ian's watchful (and armed) eyes. -----Around midday, Vargas takes a call from Lt. Wuajel. "Good day, Mr. Vargas. My superiors have cleared you and your crewmates of any blame for yesterday’s fight in the Stork & Sons yard. So, you are free to leave the system if you like. For the duration of your stay, please try to refrain from any other incidents." -----Around 1500 hours, one of the security troopers brings in a cream colored, paper envelope (real paper is extremely expensive) addressed to Lt. Commander Kevon Holland in an elegantly flowing hand and gives it to Ian. The envelope smells very faintly of a flowery perfume. Ian regards the envelope interestedly, but saves the opening for Kevon. -----That evening, Kevon, Swann, Aidan, and Vasilii awake quiet groggy and sore, but certainly better off than they were before. The Medical Slow drug has had a significantly beneficial effect for all though not everyone is fully healed yet.-----When Kevon emerges from his stateroom and goes to the lounge for a belated dinner, Ian, with most of the crew present, hands Kevon the envelope with a bemused and curious look on his scarred face. A little puzzled, Kevon opens the envelope before Vasilii can decide whether or not to shout, "No don’t open it! It’ll have Alief Hemorrhagic Virus spores!"Inside, there is a single sheet of lightly perfumed paper that reads: Dear Kevon, I’m very sorry that you and your crew sold the cube to us. I would have liked working with you and your crew. The Marquis of Souris is very particular about those he has on retainer, and other candidates have failed lesser tests of trust. I do hope that our paths will cross again so that we may have dinner, but I and the Klenbrooke need to be on our way to deliver this cube to its proper recipient. Sincerely,Holly A slight frown crosses the pilot’s features for a moment. "Bugger," he mutters, and he wads up the letter and envelope and tosses them into the waste before storming off to his temporary cabin. As he walks back, still trying to shake the after-effects of the slow drug, Kevon curses himself inwardly for failing to see the warning signs of a test. "Father will have my ass if he hears of this," the lieutenant commander thinks, knowing full well that the two marquis will talk — resulting in the likely termination of their contract with their current patron. A loss of sponsorship. A loss of Noble patronage. Because Kevon allowed himself to be swayed by the "common" concerns of maintenance and repair. No, he should have seen this coming. This was a failure on the grand scale. "Serves me right, I suppose — thinking with my dick," he growls as he locks the cabin door behind him. Things will have to change if he wishes to fulfill his goal of meeting and surpassing his father’s rank. -----Checking through the communications log, Kevon notes a message from the sector Bureau of Naval Education. "Hmm, I wonder what BUNED wants with me?" he ponders as he opens the message. ROUTINE FLASH TRAFFICIMPERIAL COURIER XBOAT 151N64CX93AF166–993 1443LST TO: LCDR HOLLAND, KEVON, IMPERIAL NAVY RESERVEFROM: BUREAU OF NAVAL EDUCATION, 17TH SECTOR FLEETSUBJECT: NAVAL ARCHITECT CERTIFICATION <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">AS PER ATTACHMENT (1), LCDR KEVON FREDERICH HOLLAND, IMPERIAL NAVY RESERVE IS HEREBY CERTIFIED AS A CLASS I NAVAL ARCHITECT, WITH ALL RIGHTS, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND PRIVILEGES PERTAINING THERETO. [*]LCDR HOLLAND IS GRANTED IMPERIAL LICENSE TO DESIGN SMALL CRAFT AND STARSHIPS OF 400 TONS OR LESS. THIS LICENSE IS VALID FOR THE LENGTH OF LCDR HOLLAND’S SERVICE, INCLUDING ACTIVE DUTY, RESERVE, OR RETIRED STATUS. [*]SHOULD LCDR HOLLAND OTHERWISE HONORABLY DETATCH FROM THE IMPERIAL ARMED FORCES OR MERCHANT MARINE; THE LICENSE WILL BE RENEWABLE AS PER IMPERIAL BUREAUCRATIC CODE CXIX, SECTION D. </li> </ol>SIGNED,ANTONIUS R. E. INGERSOLLCOMMODORE, IMPERIAL NAVYCHIEF OF EDUCATION, 17TH SECTOR FLEET"Small consolation," Kevon mumbles. -----So ends another Tale of the Bray Keaven </blockquote>

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