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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shadowdancer" data-source="post: 2477573" data-attributes="member: 515">Chapter XII Date: 210-993Location: Aboard the Bray Keaven and Blue Donovan, approaching Kerin's TyrOn board the Blue Donovan, Swann and Ian continue their quick booby-trap inspection. After going through upper engineering, down to port engineering, through the (empty) low berths, and through the crew quarters, they don’t find anything that would seem to indicate a booby trap of some sort. The ship does seem to have a general air of disorder, age, and poor maintenance, but there isn’t anything overtly and immediately dangerous. -----On the bridges of the Blue Donovan and the Bray Keaven, the respective bridge teams watch as the three Hue Mercenary boats approach. The Hue Mercenary boats are sleek 200 dTon craft with the appearance of being well armored and powered. One boat, the Joosul, takes up station fairly close to the Ghaieul while the others pace the Blue Donovan and the Bray Keaven. When Kevon informs the Botswann about the suspicious injections, a Hue Mercenary officer, whose jumpsuit reads "H. Ghent," curses in an unknown tongue and replies, "Thank you Blue Donovan. Be advised that the Blue Donovan and Bray Keaven are now under quarantine pending medical tests. I understand that you have a doctor onboard the Blue Donovan now. Please transmit his findings and test results to me while we return to Warne Highport on course 235.31 by 123.31 at 1G accel." -----The trip to Warne Highport is long and a little arduous because the Bray Keaven crewmembers are starting to feel the effects of sleep deprivation and being suited up for quite some time (at least, for those without fitted vacc suits). Swann and Ian check in on Saro every now and again, but spend most of their time examining the Blue Donovan, particularly for any other surprises. The cargo proves to be utterly normal looking: refined metals, a tractor, and some cut wood. The lizard freeze box doesn’t appear to have been part of the original cargo manifest. After checking the cargo, Swann and Ian return to the lounge to help Saro. -----The smaller lizard found in a passenger cabin is claimed by one of the passengers, Urkel Martel, as a pet. -----The two crewmembers in the lounge, Jo Adir and Lynden Nasima, eventually awake. Their story is a little confusing, but seems to follow the general track of the Blue Donovan departing Warne Highport and then going out to the jump limit to meet a ship called the Tarnoke to pick up a small package bound for Adukgin. The two ships docked, and the crew thought that the Tarnoke was sending over a pair of humans over with the package. Instead, they sent over an armed boarding party — all humans — with some sort of holo camouflage–imager device, and the boarding party was able to storm the crewmembers gathered in the lounge. Warren (presumably lizard–food man) and Indel (presumably the captain on the bridge) were killed, and they took Jo, Lynden, and the passengers captive. The armed party of humans then injected everyone with some sort of drug which knocked them out. -----On the rather long trip back to Warne Highport, Saro places each passenger in his respective stateroom and places the crewmembers in an unoccupied passenger stateroom to monitor their status. All continue to report significant intestinal discomfort and show some signs of slight fever. -----Back on the Bray Keaven, Martha finally tires of staying on the bridge and heads back to engineering to start field repairs on her strained drives and power plant. Using the onboard parts, she completes the field repairs on the power plant and drives. She decides she probably should spent a day in dock to perform the final repairs, once she gets a laundry list of parts, but the field repairs should provide at least a few hours of normal max acceleration if the ship needs it. Martha prepares a list of all necessary repairs, including parts and estimates, for Aidan to fully pursue, as he did for the ship back on Sentry. -----Around 0600 hours, all of the Blue Donovan survivors start showing signs of weakening systems, high fevers, swollen abdomens, and eventual unconsciousness in spite of Saro’s best efforts to care for them. Much to Saro’s shock and dismay, a diagnostic imager scan of one of the passenger’s abdomen shows what appear to be tick–like insects about 2–3 cm in diameter attached to the small intestines and other internal organs. A quick scan of the others shows the same tick–like insects in their abdomens. The insect things did not show up on any initial scans that Saro did. -----Vasilii comms the Blue Donovan boarding team. "Are there any low berths over there? Perhaps we could freeze them down to stop — whatever it is." -----Saro replies, "Frell yes. I should have thought of that earlier. Ian and Swann, help me get these passengers down to the low berths. I don’t want to use the ones on the Bray Keaven, but we might be able to help these poor folks."  -----Saro confirms Ian’s earlier comment about a biological agent likely not surviving an impact with the planet or the higport. "Yes, it doesn’t make any sense at all! Nothing should have survived a high–speed hit on the highport, so there would be no reason at all to leave some neo–crocodile thing onboard nor inject the passengers with something. This doesn’t make any sense!" -----Martha suggests, "Perhaps it’s insurance. If the crash didn’t work because the crew was rescued, then perhaps whatever’s inside them would finish the job that the Blue Donovan could not." -----With some trepidation, Saro scans each of the Bray Keaven boarding party, but finds nothing unusual. Despite Saro’s negative findings, Swann still doesn’t feel safe. In fact, he’s sure he can feel something inside him starting to crawl around. He rubs a hand across his abdomen. "Doc, any guess as to what the incubation period would be on those, ummm, bugs?"  -----Before arriving in the vicinity of the Warne Highport, the Botswann officer, H. Ghent, oddly says on a tight–beam transmission to the Bray Keaven and Blue Donovan, "Bray Keaven, thank you very much for your help. You’ve at least saved the lives of the Blue Donovan survivors today. I’m sorry for what will probably happen next after you pass out of our area of control. Botswann out." -----Martha listens to the last little bit, a question upon her face. "I wonder what he meant by that?" she muses to herself. The moment passes, and a blinking red light draws her back to the tasks at hand. -----"Oh, that doesn’t sound good at all," Ian comments. "Looks like we are in for more excitement, guys." Swann looks at Ian, a look of concern on his face. "Sounds like someone might be looking for a scapegoat. And I bet we’re first in line for the job." "Yes," Ian shakes his head. "It’s never a dull moment, eh? We’d better be very careful down there." -----Upon arriving in the vicinity of the Warne Highport, the two far traders are instructed to a holding area while SPA medical and investigative teams come aboard. The investigative team collects evidence and takes depositions from the Bray Keaven crew. The investigators are oddly quite rude and taciturn, rebuffing any efforts to elicit any information in return. The medical teams immediately transfer the passengers and surviving crew to a medical modular cutter module and make copies of Saro’s scans and notes. Much to Saro’s chagrin, they don’t allow him to follow to treat his patients. -----The Bray Keaven boarding party is returned to its ship. On the way back, Saro insists that they all spend 10 minutes in an evacuated airlock before boarding the Bray Keaven. The SPA medical personnel also run the boarding party through a full decontamination spray. Saro and the SPA medical personnel run a full scan on each member of the boarding party and on Martha, Vasilii, and Vargas. Saro (not the SPA medical personnel, who don’t say much at all) says, "Based on what happened to the poor folks on the Blue Donovan, I would guess that the tick things are not airborne, since they were injected. It wouldn’t hurt for everyone to stay suited up, but I think that it’s probably OK to unsuit." A notable hesitation belies his confident words, but Saro does remove his vacc suit. Most of the others follow his example. -----Without much of an explanation, the Bray Keaven is kept under armed quarantine guard for 24 hours. Aidan, monitoring the local news networks, sees absolutely no mention of the Blue Donovan.  -----Saro does continue the periodic medical scans. Other than stress, particularly in Martha and in Aidan, who seems to be developing a cold, he finds nothing of note. -----Martha busies herself with activity in engineering, continuing to make repairs as best she can.  -----Swann takes a shower and then takes a nap. During the 24-hour quarantine, he combats the tickles inside his abdomen with regular liberal doses of Suntory Hibiki whiskey. -----After 24 hours — which include a number of medical personnel boarding and running medical and environmental tests — a somewhat thin, tall human male boards accompanied by a couple of Portside Security guards. His vacc suit reads Syl Mixon. Speaking to the crew in the passenger lounge, the somewhat thin man says, "I’m acting Warne Highport Administrator Mixon. Your ship is cleared to dock at Warne Highport under certain conditions. The first is that you agree that nothing happened with regards to the Blue Donovan. The Blue Donovan is now an Imperial matter. I will authorize payment for any damage that you may have suffered during your assistance along with a payment of Cr10,000 to each of the crew for your assistance. But if I or any other SPA Administrator hears of you speaking of the Blue Donovan to anyone else, you will never dock at an SPA starport again. Do we understand each other?" -----The man is waving Cr10,000 chips at paper millionaires, Vasilii muses. But then he’ll know that. So it’s just window dressing for a threat of violence. Vasilii finds the veneer of bribery strangely chilling. Suddenly good honest criminals don’t seem so bad. Vasilii gives the administrator a very long, calculating, weighing look that makes it clear he understands that he’s not being bribed here. Then he nods. -----Martha nods, but doesn’t say anything. -----"Yes sir, thank you for the generous offer," Ian says. "Are you sure there is no more you can tell us about this incident?" To Ian’s question, Acting Administrator Mixon replies, "No, there is no further information that I can share with you, Mr. McConnell. We think that they were just a bunch of crazy pirates that you had the notable luck of surprising. Nothing more, nothing less. Certainly nothing to cause a panic about by spreading stories." "Very well, Mr. Mixon. Thank you for your time and assistance." The acting administrator seems to be put at ease by Ian. Ian’s impression of Mixon is of a petty bureaucrat who finally got into a position of some importance after a long time and who could be considerable trouble if forced into feeling like he has to show that he has authority. Mixon hands each of the crew a Cr10,000 credit chit, and all of the non–Bray Keaven personnel withdraw. -----A concerned look crosses the lieutenant commander’s face, and he walks with the administrator to the airlock, as a ship’s captain should. "We’ll abide by your orders, Administrator," he says. "However, since we’re already involved and being held to secrecy, is there anything we can do to help with an investigation?" Acting Administrator Mixon replies, "I think not, Lt. Cdr. Holland. Thank you for your offer, but this is such an isolated incident, I don’t think that your assistance will be necessary. No sense in alarming folks because of some crazies." The young officer keeps his expression neutral at the response, and then nods in agreement. "Aye, sir. Thank you, again, for your generosity." -----The Bray Keaven is then directed by Warne Highport Approach Control to enclosed and pressurized docking bay 2391. The crew then gathers in the lounge to discuss what to do now. -----Swann fixes himself a large bowl of oatmeal sweetened with kamishgiirmu, and topped with walnuts and sliced bananas, hoping that if there are small insects inside him the oatmeal will smother them. He listens to the other’s theories and opinions while he eats. -----Vargas sips on a beverage from the dispenser, shares his meal with Rusti, and listens to the conversation. -----Ian will grab whatever beverage is available in the lounge and grab a seat. "So, what the bloody hell is going on here, guys?" Vasilii starts by tapping his ear and waving an arm around the room. "First, we’ll never know unless someone tells us. I’ve got one guess that seems to fit the facts, but who knows? For what it’s worth, I think we disturbed them by coming out of jump while they were halfway through some plan that involved breeding deadly parasites and didn’t involve ramming the planet in any way, shape or form. Our arrival caused them to bail out, and aim the ship at the planet to dispose of it. "We’ve already hit one interstellar biowarfare conspiracy on Alief — the Marquis’ team confirmed an external angle, after we finished our trip and he sent the troops in. Now we run into more bioweapons, and a Starport Administrator who didn’t seem completely surprised. Something’s going on, something interstellar — it’s got all the Imperial types fired up, and we just ran into it again. "But we’ll never know." Ian nods his head in agreement while he gulps his drink. Martha shakes her head resignedly. "The man said he was Acting Admin, not the Admin himself. Yeah, something’s going on, and it’s big." She pauses, then continues. "It seems that we’ve been in the middle of it for a while, and it’s pretty obvious it involves the nobles at Sentry, and probably Aleif. Whether we like it or not, we’re a pawn in this game, and I don’t think we’re getting out of it any time soon." "As for what we do," Vasilii continues, "I’d say we just butt out, forget it, sell our cargo, and hope the Marquis doesn’t turn up wanting to hire us again. We don’t talk, we don’t ask questions, we don’t do any computer searches." He looks at Aidan. "We give him exactly what he wants." Again, he taps his ear and waves a hand around. Only then does it dawn on Martha what Vasilii is getting at. Quietly she heads downstairs to access a crew workstation on the bridge to use the sensor array to begin scanning passively for hidden surveillance devices. Her sensor sweep doesn’t detect any unexpected transmissions from the ship. Not entirely comforted, she returns to the lounge to inform the others. -----As soon as Vasilii gives Aidan a pointed look about not doing any computer searches, Aidan gives Vasilii a well–practiced innocent smile, and then immediately reaches over for his tabletcomp. Vasilii rolls his eyes. -----"Assuming that they don’t pull us right back into this thing the minute they want a throwaway crew to help with whatever investigation or operation they have in mind," Kevon offers. "But, I agree. We stay under the radar as much as possible; we don’t even tell the Marquis. "However, we double– and triple-check all of our incoming cargoes, and I would recommend we take no passengers, frozen or unfrozen," Kevon adds. "Ms. Smythe, as soon as you can give us an estimate, we can get it to the administrator’s office ASAP. No use in sticking around any longer than we need to." Martha nods toward Aidan. "He should have it already. I sent him the file this morning, before we started getting busy. Mr. Silver may not have even had the chance to check it yet." Aidan replies, "Yes, thank you, Martha. I do have the list, and I’m going through the proper forms now. It’s amazing what the SPA considers necessary these days. "Ah, back to form SPA–X82l1L29471–5, Environmental Impact of Replaced Power Plant Components," he adds with a sigh. -----"Frell it all, I was hoping to have a bit of fun here. Been hearing a good bit about this place. Now they’ve put a damper on it all." Ian looks at Vasilii with a half grin and nods. "Lady and gentlemen, we will need to be on our toes the whole time we are here. Please, no one venture out alone, even outside the ship in the docking area. Let’s keep the ship locked down as much as possible as well. As I understand it, this is a bit of an unruly place anyway." -----Vargas looks at the other crewmembers and says, "I would really like to know what is happening. However, we must consider this: Choose the battles that you will fight and only fight the battles that you will win. If we choose to investigate this, we are definitely running with the big dogs and if we lose, well I guess we might as well give up being honest traders. Curiosity can be wonderful but dangerous. "I do not think we can win or even break even in this battle, therefore I must agree with Vasilii. We should just keep a low profile, conduct our business, and get out of town. "Now, I believe that we have some business with a Vargr in the highport. Shall we continue on to it and hope that it goes better then the trip from the jump nexus?" -----Martha announces, "Room’s clean, by the way. As far as I can tell, we aren’t being actively bugged. There may be burst-recorders, but at the moment, there’s nothing." "Thanks, Miss Smythe. That’s a relief." Vasilii smiles. "You want I should jam any outgoing signals for a bit, just in case?" "Yes, by all means," Ian says. "Let’s keep a low profile and get on with our business and get out. We will need to contact the Vargr when we get settled in and are ready to start things rolling. Vargas, would you be willing to be our point of contact in this situation, considering your experience and skills with the Vargrs?" Vargas looks at Ian and simply states, "Ian, I would be honored to help in this matter. I am quite curious about this relative of our benefactor. I sincerely hope this is as presented and not some lead into a wild adventure. I do believe that the end will justify the trouble if Jarvis produces the documentation. I think we should conclude this affair as soon as possible." Vargas then says, "We were very lucky this time in that the Bray Keaven did not have to go into any action requiring a gunner. If that Vargr ship had attempted boarding or firing on us, we would have been in deep trouble. While everyone likes to be a hero, we must place our ship’s safety first. In the future, we need to determine beforehand who will leave the ship and who will stay. We cannot afford to risk our home in space by removing essential personnel in time of crisis. Keep in mind that I am not pointing any fingers or laying any blame in this case, but sooner or later our luck will run out and we will regret some of our choices. What does everyone else think?" Ian turns and glares at Swann. Martha agrees. "Vargas definitely has a point here. Now, if you guys want me to take a crash course in gunnery, I probably can, but that won’t cover us in the short-term. Guys, someone’s gotta watch out for the Bray Keaven." -----Having finished eating, Swann leans back and says, "I think this all goes back to what that Scout on Fonnien said about SolSec deep–strike teams. Apparently there’s one operating in the cluster. I don’t know if they were responsible for that business back on Alief, but it’s certainly possible. "What worries me the most is that if they were involved with Alief, by now they might not be too happy about us always crashing their parties, and might come jumping for us. And that’s a lot more serious than having some backwater SPA official mad at us for tellin’ tales in some star town bar. "So yeah, for our own safety, I think we should let this go, and try our best to stay off everyone’s sensors. And yeah, we need to be extra careful about the contents of all cargoes we take on. I also suggest that everyone start caring a handgun of some sort at all times, even when you’re onboard the ship. In an emergency, you might not have time to go get a weapon from the ship’s locker or your cabin." Vasilii nods. "As for the other business," Swann says, his face turning slightly red. "Yeah, I messed up by leaving the ship without a gunner onboard. I did it because I was concerned about the safety of the boarding party. But I will do my best from now on not to act in those situations without thinking, or at least let someone know what I plan to do so they can talk me out of it." He breaks into a sheepish smile. "So I guess we should defrost our passengers and see about offloading those bovine popsicles." Ian nods once. "Very well. I’m glad you have realized that your actions were not in the best interest of the crew and ship. Let’s try and learn from out mistakes and be a bit more coordinated in the future. Thanks." Ian ends with one of his familiar big grins. Aidan looks up from his tablet comp and quips, "Besides, I thought rash actions during boarding emergencies were my responsibility." Even Vasilii grins at that. -----Martha waits a moment to see if the conversation continues, then starts moving about, thinking about the SolSec strike forces and Zhodani mind rapers that seem to be running rampant in the Linkworlds. -----After the meeting, Swann tracks down Ian. "I think you and I need to learn how to operate those laser carbines we’ve got in the cargo hold. Kevon has a laser pistol, he can probably show us the basics. I wonder if they came with a user’s manual. Let’s go check." "Not a bad idea, it’s always good to expand one’s horizons." Ian goes with Swann to check out the carbines. -----Later Ian double checks that the "gift" is still tucked away safe and sound in a drawer his stateroom. The ex–Marine then looks up the Vargr, Jarvis Nuuis, in the comm directory. A little later, Ian (with Vargas nearby), places a comm call to Jarvis Nuuis. A female Vargr takes the call, and after Ian identifies himself, says, "One moment please." A beat later, the image of a tawny-white Vargr appears on the vid plate. The Vargr smiles a somewhat alarming smile and says, "Ah, Ian McConnell. I received a message just yesterday from my cousin that you would be arriving soon with a gift from him. In fact, I insist that you and the entire crew of the famed Bray Keaven join me for dinner in my humble quarters this evening. Say, 1830 hours?"  -----Ian tries to make a better impression than he did during his last meeting with a Vargr, using any and all communication and etiquette skills he can muster. "Insist . . . entire crew . . . for dinner?" Ian thinks. "So much for laying low!" "Yes," Ian briefly glances over to Vargas, as if to say "Jump in here anytime!" "I’m sure they will all be honored by your generous invitation. 1830 will be fine." The implications of leaving the ship empty immediately start flowing through the security officer’s brain. Once the scenario has run through at least twice — "very well. I look forward to our meeting. Might I ask the location of the dinner? I am unfamiliar with this area and would appreciate your assistance." "Ah, I forget my manners. I will send someone to escort you to dinner since this station can get a little confusing for newcomers." -----During the vidcall, Vargas pays close attention to Jarvis’ dress and posturing. He attempts to use his observational skills and knowledge of Vargr culture to determine his charisma. He finds that he can’t get a good feel on such a short call. He does guess that Jarvis isn’t too important in the scheme of things. "Jarvis is attempting to be friendly, I certainly hope the package is in good condition," he thinks. When Ian indicates that Vargas can jump in at any time, he carefully allows himself to be seen in the vidscreen range. When Jarvis notices him, Vargas says in Irilitok, "Good day and good hunting, Jarvis. The entire Bray Keaven pack eagerly looks forward to meeting you and your pack in person. You do us great honor in your generous invitation." -----After the conversation, Vargas translates what he said and follows with, "I hope that no one took offense at my accepting that invitation." Ian turns to Vargas. "I really don’t like leaving the ship vulnerable like that, no crew and all. You think he’d be offended if we all didn’t show?" Ian punches the ship–wide comm. "Fellow crewmates. We have been invited to dine with Jarvis Nuuis, cousin to Merkul, at 1830 hours. We will be his ‘honored guests.’ Ian out." -----Kevon smiles slightly at the mention of their being "honored guests" of the Vargr. "I guess I get to pull out the dress uniform tonight." He heads to the fresher and gets cleaned up, then dons his dress uniform, replete with his ceremonial cutlass. He’ll carry his short-range comms, but leave the laser pistol on the ship; an officer doesn’t carry a sidearm to a formal function — it’s just bad form.  -----"Hello, sounds like a job," Vasilii thinks. "Or at least a business relationship. I just wonder whether we want him as a friend. But I think we may as well go and see." -----Later in the day Swann says to Martha, "You might want to consider keeping a shotgun stashed away back in engineering. Or maybe even two, one on the port side, one starboard. You’re an awful long way from the ship’s locker back there. If you don’t know how to use one, either Ian or I could show you. They’re pretty simple to use." Martha stops what she’s doing and turns to stare at Swann, a little surprised. "Swann, do you KNOW what kind of damage a shotgun can do to a ship, particularly control panels? Isn’t that just asking for trouble? This isn’t some shooting gallery! This is a delicate vessel, and our home!" She pauses for a moment, too flustered to continue. After a moment to recompose herself, Martha continues. "I’ve got my snubbie, so don’t you worry about me. ’Sides, with you at the gunner’s station, they won’t even come close." -----Vasilii arranges for the freight cargo to be offloaded that afternoon at 1300. Saro wakes all of the passengers successfully, and Ian and Swann escort Tariq Abasov, Nancy Gattis, and Guwann Dura off the ship and out of the Bray Keaven’s berth. Each pays for his or her passage with cash. Anil Salian wakes a little groggily, but almost immediately goes into cheery salesman mode. "Ah, there already? I dreamed of many things, but it seemed like I just went to sleep moments ago. What was that? We’re at the Warne Highport? I thought that our agreement was that you’d deliver my cargo and me to Tersberg Downport. Of course, if you have some repairs to make before we go downside, I can certainly wait a day or so before departing." "Very good of you, Mr. Salian. We should have our repair estimates fixed soon," Vasilii says. "If there’s any meaningful delay, I’m sure we can send you and your cargo down to Tersberg in the shuttle service at our expense. In fact, I’d be happy to arrange that right now if you’re in a real hurry. Or I can book you some more pleasant accommodation on the highport if you want to wait for us." -----Vasilii then starts selling all speculative cargo (chemical catalysts, gray salt, leather, Marine field rations, vid discs), either for delivery within the highport or to anybody who will accept shuttle forwarding groundside. Whilst he’s looking at the markets, he keeps an eye open for anything that might be worth buying. -----After the passengers depart, Ian says to Swann, "Swann, I am concerned about leaving the ship empty during the dinner. Could you and Aidan set up the security programs at their highest level while we are gone?" Swann looks around to make sure they can’t be overheard. "Let’s wait and see what our cattle-wrangling Scout decides to do with his cargo. If he leaves it on board, I’ll stay behind to stand watch. I’m sure the Vargr will understand the necessity of leaving a guard behind. If he off loads the cargo today, we’ll discuss our other options." During the discussion about ship’s security, Vargas suggests that if the entire crew is to be absent, they might consider hiring some security guards to patrol around the ship for the night. "If we have cargo onboard, obviously someone would need to stay to monitor the low berths and frozen biologicals. This would be the perfect reason for one crewman to remain onboard. These Vargr seem to understand business and I do not think insult would be taken in this case. In any case, we do need to be concerned about ship security in light of our fame and recent events." -----Ian starts looking around for a bag or container that the "gift" can be placed in for the duration of the trip to the Vargr’s quarters. </blockquote>

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