X-COM (updated M-W-F)

[Lazybones]

Session 9 (June 9, 2008)
Chapter 30


Catalina opened fire with her laser, but while she scored a hit, the beam merely drew a dark line across the snakeman’s torso, inflicting little apparent damage. She got its attention, and had to dive for cover behind a tree as the alien shifted its rifle in her direction. Two shots lanced past the tree, but a third scored a direct hit, exploding the trunk in a cascade of wood splinters and knocking Catalina roughly to the ground.

Vasily roared as he emerged out of the swamp behind the snakeman, the stun rod in his hands, its tip flickering with electrical energy. The snakeman turned to shoot him, but he intercepted the sweeping barrel of its rifle with the bole of the staff, knocking it down and away before sweeping the weapon into the creature’s face. There was an electrical surge as dancing blue tendrils of energy enveloped the creature’s head, then it crumpled in a heap at the Russian’s feet.

“GOT YOU!” Vasily yelled.

Jane and Buzz ran to help James and Catalina. The medic had gotten clear of the burning bush, suffering only some minor burns in the process. Catalina was a bit unsteady for a moment, but she quickly recovered, joining the others as they looked down at the stunned alien.

“Damn,” James said, bending to examine it more closely. “Let’s get this back to the ship and into cold storage.” Vasily tried to lift it, but couldn’t manage to raise more than half of its bulk from the mud. “Heavy,” he panted.

“We’ve got to secure this alien,” James insisted. “It’s different than the other one, and new.”

Catalina and Jane were looking over the crashed alien ship—from a respectable distance—with Catalina adjusting the controls on the motion sensor. The ship was a small scout, only slightly larger than the wreck they’d captured in the northern deserts of Mexico. This one, however, was more intact, its landing perhaps cushioned by the trees and sodden ground of the swamp. “Something, possibly inside,” she reported, although the display on the device was hazy with interference from the alien wreck.

Vasily bound the alien with cables taken from his pack, fastening its jaw and binding its arms tightly to its torso. “Okay, is secure,” he said. “If we find power supply in alien ship, I buy everyone drink, okay?”

“We can come back here and deal with the ship later,” James said.

Catalina and Jane had edged forward. They found a hatch in the back of the alien craft, which was cracked slightly open. Vasily shrugged at James. “I think everyone keen to neutralize alien inside,” he said, standing and joining them.

James sighed, and after giving the alien a quick check to verify that it was not going to revive in the immediate future, rose and followed them. “Bad choice, guys,” he muttered to himself.

Vasily and Jane got the hatch fully open, and the Russian led the way inside. There was a cloying cloud of smoke in the air, and they wore their gas masks, giving them the look of aliens themselves as they moved forward into the main compartment. The ship was too small to offer much room to hide, and the snakeman pilot greeted them with a blast from a plasma pistol. Vasily was hit in the shoulder and fell back; laser fire from him and from Jane blasted through the crowded compartment. At that range, either side could hardly miss, but the odds were against the alien. Less than ten seconds after Vasily had first entered the ship, the alien lay sprawled across the controls, blackened streaks covering its body from a dozen hits. Vasily, on the other hand, could barely stand, grimacing as he tested a leg that had been struck by another of the plasma bolts.

“You’re a bit messed up, big fella,” Catalina said.

“I just fine,” the Russian said, limping as he made he way back out of the ship. Buzz slipped in past him, moving forward to check out the ship’s controls. He grimaced as he pulled the snakeman free of the command console, letting it slump to the floor of the ship.

James was there to meet Vasily as he came out of the ship. He attended to the injury in his shoulder, the worse of the two hits he’d taken. “Your wound doesn’t look so hot,” he said, opening up his medical satchel.

“Wound never do,” he said, settling back against one wing of the alien craft.

“Power systems seem destroyed,” Buzz’s voice came over his communicator.

“How is ship?” Vasily asked.

“Well, the power source is down and it is not going to fly for a while.”

“Then we go back to Skyranger now,” Vasily said. He waited for James to finish applying a pressure bandage to his blackened shoulder, then pushed himself up to his feet, wavering slightly before stabilizing. “Come on, let’s grab that alien and get back.”

 

[Lazybones]

Interlude: Vasily (June 10, 2008)


"I can go now?"

The orderly nodded. "Yes, sir. Try to take it easy for a few days."

Vasily nodded, and began limping out of the medical wing, though he doubted there would be any taking things easy in the near future. Things were moving fast, and troubling news seemed to come from every quarter.

The base was on edge; the stand-off with the alien saucer proved beyond a doubt that the aliens knew where to find X-Com, and worse, that they knew what kind of defenses the base had. The saucer's dancing in and out of missile range was too precise to be coincidental. Whole military bases had been annihilated by alien attacks; he wasn't sure how X-Com would fare, because he wasn't sure exactly what the aliens could bring to bear.

They still had hidden strengths, of that he was sure. His gloomy thoughts that the sectoids might simply be scouts seemed to be more and more likely; the confrontation with the massive snakeman and his high-bore alien weapon proved that much.

But then, what did this new change mean, he wondered as he limped into the cafeteria and stared at the chalked-up menu. Were the snakemen a form of vanguard? Or, a curious part of his mind wondered, were they literally something new the aliens had brought up? Were they making new soldiers out of snakes? They seemed so different from the sectoids, and a possible answer for the alien obsession for attacking and experimenting on animals and humans swam into focus.

They are trying to find the best way to kill us, and are using our own planet's animals to do it, he mused, buying a tuna sandwich from the subdued-looking chef. It was only a guess, but it felt right to him, felt appropriately sinister and menacing enough to be alien. Maybe he was wrong; but perhaps the inevitable autopsy of the dead snakeman would tell them more.

He limped out into the corridor, munching away to the sound of banging and drilling coming from the workshop to his right. The sheer scale of the dangers the agency was facing was only becoming clear, and deep down, Vasily wondered if the new weapons and equipment were doomed to come too late. He wandered away, industriously chewing, shaking his head.

And then, of course, the most worrying development of all, he thought, as he wandered past the lift guard posts and into the rec room. A saboteur. He had wondered if it had not been an agent of some rival organization or government, but after thinking about it, he had to admit that was a short-sighted guess. Such an agent would likely be there to gather information, and attracting attention to him or herself by sabotaging what was really a sideline project seemed rather counter-productive. But then, the alternative was that someone in X-Com really was working for the aliens, and that was unthinkable. Either by choice or by some kind of coercion, either possibility was terrifying.

Or, even more chilling... they made their own little sectoids, Vasily thought unhappily. Can they make their own humans now too?

He sighed, nodding and giving a half-hearted wave to the X-Com members in the rec room as he marched on. One problem at a time; he was a soldier, a counter-insurgency unit, an expendable asset. The others could look for the saboteur; Buzz, Cat, Jane, it was their arena. For him, work was about killing the sectoids and now their big snakeman cousins, and possibly wringing the neck of the one betraying X-Com after they found out who it was.

But the snakemen were bigger, and scarier, and though bigger challenges called for more extravagant efforts, having the right gear helped too...

He had come to the training ground, where some members of Alpha and Beta teams were hanging around. He nodded in greeting, but he knew why he was there. He walked up to the big Icelander, Sveinn, and gestured at the insane rotary cannon by his side.

"Hey," Vasily asked, "You mind if I have a go?"

The big bruiser seemed only too happy to hand it over, with a slightly mocking grin as the Russian struggled with the weight. There was laughter from the onlookers, some polite, some raucous, as the recoil sent him tumbling to the floor. Grimacing, he picked himself up again. If any of you are the traitor I would enjoy shredding you with this gun - just not right away, he mused as he rubbed his shoulder and tried to grin along with everyone. Maybe it was time to upgrade his own firepower after all.

 

[Lazybones]

Interlude: Research Priorities (June 10, 2008)

FROM: DR. KIMBERLY WAGNER, X-COM RESEARCH LEAD
TO: MEMBERS, ALPHA TEAM
CC: MICHAEL GARRET, GRACE THELON BELUCA
RE: New Research/Manufacturing Priorities

Research Lab 1 has reported successful interrogation of a sectoid prisoner.

The assessments made by several members of Alpha Team, along with our medical staff, turned out to be accurate. The aliens' primary means of communication is via some form of telepathy, augmented by subvocal noises generated in the throat. It appears that they can understand human speech, but direct dialog is limited to the most basic of concepts.

The knowledge gained from the prisoner, along with the data recovered from the Australia base, has opened up new potentials for our research. Our studies indicate that the aliens are organized into a quasi-caste system, with aliens designed for particular purposes within the alien hierarchy. How the new "snakemen" that you encountered in the Everglades fits into this system remains to be seen. While we do not have enough information to decipher the alien telepathic communications, Doctor White believes that he can create a Visual Display Unit, or VDU, that can provide realtime information about aliens encountered in the field. Chief Beluca is already working to integrate Dr. White's schematics into the new Personal Armor, so when those suits come online, they will have this technology fully integrated.

We have also completed an analysis of the hovering disk fragments that you brought back from Phoenix. They are identical to those pieces you found in Utah. For now, we are classifying this alien machine a "cyberdisc". Capture of an intact specimen remains a priority.

Research Lab 2 reports progress on the alien navigation systems, but no breakthrough as of yet. Our scientists and engineers agree that once we better understand the alien navigation and power systems, we should be able to use that knowledge to construct advanced craft of our own. Lab 2 has been temporarily closed until the investigation into the events yesterday has been completed, but Base Commander Hallorand indicates that he will allow the research staff to return to this project as soon as possible.

Workshop 2 is now fully online. This workshop has a new electro-magnetic focused array that will allow us to build things using alien alloys. Ten new engineers have arrived in the last week to augment Chief Engineer Beluca's staff. For the moment, we're bunking the additional engineers with Beta Team in the new East Wing barracks.

Interlude: Catalina (June 12, 2008)


"No, we haven't given the project much of a priority, but that isn't the point is it?" Arm draped casually across the back of her chair, Catalina's eyes met those of the investigating officer evenly. "The malfunction wasn't in the machine itself, as soon as it was disabled Operative Olloff discovered that there was a deliberate sabotage of the AI. How would giving Doctor S more staff have prevented that? It might even have made it easier for the saboteur to disguise their actions."

"I can't tell you too much more than that." She uncrossed her legs and recrossed them in the other direction. "Four of us were in the recreation room when we were shouted over the com by Operative Allen. We headed to the lab and found the door locked. I've no idea how that happened but would speculate that the saboteur instigated it. Either way, I managed to override the lock and we ran in."

"The one scientist was on the floor, but we went right past. Operatives Kasprjak and Swift kept it busy while Operative Olloff attempted to get into its controls from a terminal, and I tried a similar approach on the machine." Catalina gave the officer a rueful smile. "Unfortunately it was moving around too much for me to get the panel open, and Operative Olloff didn't manage to get into the AI before it was damaged too much. It was then Operative Olloff uncovered the sabotage, beyond that I've nothing to add."

Interview over, Catalina left the room and was half way down the corridor when she had a sudden thought. "Damn," she muttered to herself, "with the investigation going on we've not been updated on what that thing was we found in the swamps." Turning on her heels she returned to the workshops and poked her head around the door. "Hi there," she called to the nearest engineer with a friendly smile, "I was just wondering, has anyone taken a close look at what we brought in from the swamp? I'm a tad curious as to what something that heavy could be." She paused, clicked her fingers and spoke again. "Oh, is it also possible to get an idea on what manpower and what timescale you think you'd need to get another manufacturing workshop up and running?"

The engineer, who looked barely old enough to be out of college, let alone grad school, flushed. Catalina didn’t recognize him; he had to be one of the new staff assigned to Workshop 2. "Oh, you mean the thing that fell off of the alien ship?” he said. “I'm not a researcher, but I heard Doctor Oka...Oku... well, the African guy? He was saying it had something to do with the alien propulsion systems.”

“As for the workshop, I don't know for sure, a week, maybe two. They're really pushing us hard. I don't know where they're going to put the new staff; guess we're going to have to take shifts on the beds and showers."

Catalina turned up her smile to the next level of intensity. “Thanks, love,” running her eyes over him one more time before leaving the workshop. She didn’t wait to get back to her quarters, whipping her xPhone into her hand as she started quickly composing an e-mail.



Interlude: Buzz (June 14, 2008)


"Jackpot!"

Buzz looked around, hoping his enthusiasm had not been overheard, but the lounge was almost empty, with just a few technicians talking quietly around the microwave. He quickly logged out of the computer, keeping mental notes. He dare not keep any digital records at this point.

He was in a somewhat self-congratulatory mood as he returned to the barracks, but his smug smirk faded as he considered the next step. How should he share this new information? Certainly he trusted team Alpha, but if the wrong people found out…

"Oh Buzz, you got yourself into a mess now," he muttered. As he made his way to his locker, he saw a deck of cards sitting out on one of the bunks, and had an idea. He pulled out his X-phone and began composing an e-mail.

To: Team Alpha
From: Buzz
Subject: You might miss something!

Time to take a break. Poker and fun. As long as you don't mind losing all your credits! Meet at the table at 10pm. Team Alpha only, I don't want too many folks to lose all their money. The first Russian there sets the ante. May the best man win!

He snickered at the last line. Jane and Cat were sure to be there! He pressed "send" and threw himself down onto his bunk, using the xPhone to access the security subroutine he’d started earlier. He’d need it sooner rather than later, it seemed…

 

[Lazybones]

Interlude: Base Operations (June 16, 2008)


The lights dimmed as the projector warmed up, casting a crystal-clear image against the far wall.

"As you can see, the alien navigational systems function with a speed and efficiency beyond any human-made computer," Doctor Okwelume said. His crisp Oxford accent accompanied the images, as he went on to describe the details of the research findings on the alien machines.

"As you can see," he said, bringing up a new image of a schematic diagram, "Once we complete our research into the alien shipboard systems, we believe that we can construct a flying craft more advanced than anything else in Earth's arsenal. With work complete on the alien alloys and navigation systems, we need only complete our work on their power systems to proceed."

"And their fuel source," a voice chimed in out of the darkness. Those present didn’t need to see Agent Drake's face to know that she had a sour look on her face. "You aren't going to get very far without power."

"Of course," Doctor Okwelume conceded. "The fuel source is key, both to the ships, and to the alien weapons. That is the end of my prepared comments. I look forward to seeing the new priorities set by the Board."

After the lights came back on and the scientist departed, Director-Liaison Garret pulled the members of Alpha Team aside for a moment. "I just wanted to let you know, we have two interceptors stationed now at Dijon-Longvic Airbase in central France. They should give us at least partial coverage of European airspace. We've already broken ground on X-COM Base 2. Some of the techies are calling it the ‘Maginot Hole’; not sure we want to let that catch on, given the history."

He looked at the wall, although the projected image had long since faded. "You've done well, all of you, under difficult circumstances. We're in a race, and we don't even know the course, or where the finish line is.”

He paused and touched his ear, where the small bulb of a communications device was just visible. "I'll be right there,” he said. “Excuse me," he said to Alpha and departed, in something of a rush.

“What was that all about?” Jane asked.

Catalina shrugged. “So, Buzz, what’s this about a poker game tonight?”

* * * * *

Interlude: Poker (June 14, 2008)

OOC: Thought I’d post the game in its entirety, as the players initially posted it to the game forum. -LB

VK
10 o'clock came around. In what might be a surprise to some, Vasily marched past the barracks and through the East Wing door into the rec room at almost precisely the stroke of the hour, moving up and taking a chair with nothing more than a nod to those already there.

"Ten credit ante, go up ten credits every twenty minutes, yes?"

CD
Ten past ten, timed precisely for when the deck had been shuffled, the dealer had the first card in their hand, and was just about to send it across the table, Catalina walked into the room, glided elegantly across the floor, and slid gracefully into a chair at the table.

Catalina winked at Buzz, and palm upright she beckoned with her fingers to the dealer. "Deal me in."

JA
Jim looked over his cards. "Back in my residency days, we used to play this when the ER was slow. Hope you guys know what you are doing, 'cause if not, I'll be walking out with your cash."

Jim grinned as he upped the ante. This was more fun than getting shot at by aliens, and certainly more fun than arguing over when to build the new medical lab. He'd been working hard in the existing lab to build more of those med-kits; without better armor, they'd be sure to need all the kits he and Stan and the technicians could make, next time they ran into some snakemen. While he agreed that more manufacturing capacity was the right way to go now, he hadn't yet convinced the others that the next step was the new medical lab and improved armor for all of them. Maybe they'd listen better once he took all their money...

JS
Playing cards certainly lightened the mood some. Hopefully, it might even lighten the others of a few bucks. So far, everyone seemed to be holding their own.

Jane tossed in her matching bet and called. Vasily won that round. Next round Catalina, James and Vasily faced off at eighty over three jacks, a straight and two jacks, with James taking the pot. Buzz took the next round with Jane and Catalina each tossing in about 90. Buzz had a full house, fives over twos. It went back and forth for quite awhile, everyone was fairly evenly matched for the first couple hours, breaking even more or less.

There were periods of time where there was no cross-traffic from others and everyone was free to talk freely, as free as one could feel at X-COM.

CD
Okay, a few hands in, everything fairly even, so now it was time have some serious fun. Next hand up with a two pair, ten high. Looking at her cards she set a deliberate smile to her lips and looked up to face all of them across the table. Doc A looked pretty uneasy already, obviously not a good hand. Leave him a while. Vasily looked his same stoic self, determination creasing his brow. Jane and Buzz maintained the traditional poker face.

Round the table the bets went a couple of times she pursed her lips a little and smiled at her cards, as she pushed her credits forward. Catalina cast a glance around the table. "You know what this table needs?" she asked, to the air. "Some pretzels and beer. That is how you Americans do it, right?" There was a few moments' pause before Jane folded and stood up, announcing that she would fetch snacks and be back for the next hand. Nice, so very, very nice.

Around and around they went again. James folded but Buzz sat across from her looking quietly confident as he placed a bet. Time for something... less subtle, Catalina thought, as she kicked off her shoe, stretched out her leg, and ran her toes carefully up and down Buzz's calf. "Oh my, she exclaimed!" she chuckled as the man twitched and dropped his cards, and Jane wandered back in bearing snacks and looking curious. Cat gave the other woman a grateful wink as she sat down, with Buzz still fumbling to gather up his now-visible flush. Ha, easy.

Doc Allen was looking increasingly twitchy, but Vas sat with the permanently angry expression still in place. Damn, what to do there? What could you do against a man who would probably stoically ignore toes tickling his groin for the sake of the Mother Land?

BO
Cat had drastically changed Buzz's luck in the game. He didn't know whether to keep his legs crossed, widen them and suggest playing for something other than credits. In any case he had lost all his credits by the end of the next four hands and became merely a spectator. Bad luck but good timing.

It was about midnight and the minor sensor dampening program he had initiated should give them the privacy he needed, and, he hoped, would not be noticed for anything other than a glitch in the system. One never knew with security breaches, but he had already decided it was worth the risk.

He watched one more hand and then leaned forward, lowering his voice a bit. "Listen gang, I found something you all ought to know about." He waited until he thought they all were listening. "Someone has been messin' with the X-Com network, accessing files and such, probably the same person that accessed the HWP AI and inserted the new subroutine and made it go all haywire." He looked around the table, noticing they had stopped playing. "You gonna raise or call Vas?" They took the hint and got back to the game.

He continued as they played. "Whomever it is they are really good, they covered their tracks quite well. They accessed the HWP AI under the login of Doctor Sandesh from the terminal in Alien Containment. Could be him but I doubt it. Number one, the only ones with personal access to this lab are Doctor White, Doctor Wagner, and Base Commander Hallorand. Number two, Doctor Sandish would have to be smart enough to cover his trail but not smart enough to use someone else's terminal login."

The game went on, but it was clear that the attention of the others was no longer on the cards. He fiddled with his xPhone and continued, "One thing might have come to our advantage. Whomever has been messing with the network has been downloading files on the research going on here; medical, ships, and alien stuff. But they are loading it to a personal data storage device. I don't know about you guys but they almost did an anal probe on me to make sure I did not have anything like that when I got here. Find someone with a device like that and it's a good chance that we find..."

He left the thought hanging.

 

[Innocent Bystander]

Awesome reading as per usual LB. I'm thankful the original games didn't have any internal sabatours. They were hard enough as is.

 

[Lazybones]

We would occasionally have sessions like this, where we'd go two hours without a single combat encounter.

* * * * *

Session 10 (June 16, 2008)
Chapter 31


In the lounge at X-COM headquarters, in the relative quiet just after midnight, the members of Alpha Team were gathered around the circular table, playing poker.

There was a long silence following Buzz’s announcement about the saboteur who had almost killed Doctor Sandesh and a number of other researchers through the deliberate malfunction of the experimental HWP system. Finally, Vasily spoke.

“That not sound easy. Little data stick, well, little.”

“Yeah,” Buzz said, “I know, and it could look like anything, really.”

“I had a data stick that looked like a toothbrush once,” James said. “Got it in a promotion for Crest.”

“How you propose security look for thing?” the Russian asked.

Catalina frowned, looking at her cards. “A search, perhaps, on the quiet,” she said.

Vasily drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “Maybe nearly one hundred people in X-COM. I think you want find this by end of year, yes?”

“I did not even mess with recording or altering the trail,” Buzz said, “So no one knows I am on to them.”

“Can you lay any traps to help identify the login, Buzz?” James asked.

“What if they already have what they want?” Catalina said.

“Is closed network,” Vasily said. “Remember? They not able to get out information without it knowing.”

“Hence the stick,” Catalina acknowledged. “When did this all begin, Buzz? Could you get a date?”

“I got the dates that the data was downloaded onto the portable device,” Buzz said with a smile.

“When were they? We might be able to eliminate some,” Catalina suggested. “if they arrived after the date of the first download, then it’s not them.”

Buzz’s expression grew vacant for just a second as he accessed his memory. “There were at least three separate times,” he said, “the first one about four weeks ago, and the latest five days ago, well, six now.”

“Hmm, well, if no one else is in, I’ll just take this,” James said, reaching out to shift the pot of tokens toward him.

“Hey!” Vasily said in protest.

“What? You guys are folding, right?”

“I just waiting for my turn.”

Catalina rubbed her chin with one long finger. “Not the Beta team then, and keep your mitts off, Doc!”

James withdrew his hand. “Well then, Cat, you are up.”

“How would they get the data device off the base?” Jane asked.

“Maybe it someone who think leaving base will not be problem,” Vasily suggested.

Jane said, “So someone that can leave the base easily… that’s not good, it could even be Garret.”

Catalina glanced down at her cards. “I’ll see you, and raise you five.” The chips clinked together as she tossed them into the pot.

“It was curious that no weapon data was taken,” Buzz said, as Jane raised, adding her chips to the table.

Vasily opened his mouth to respond, but closed it as the side door opened, and Joan Beauvais walked into the room. “Ah, poker!” she said, seeing them.

“Well, hello,” Buzz said.

“Greetings, Doctor Beauvais,” Jane added.

“Yes. Poker,” Vasily said.

“Good to see you all getting along,” Joan said.

“Getting along?” Buzz said, indicating the pile of chips. “This is war!”

Joan laughed. “I just got back in. Gah, I love my home country, but the French can turn a simple agreement into the Napoleonic Code.”

“Pff, French,” Catalina muttered. “I’m sure the aesthetics of the base were the biggest issue, or the canteen menu.”

The psychologist smiled slightly. “It’s good to be back. I hope I didn’t miss too much?”

“Trouble with neighbors,” Vasily said, throwing chips into the pot.

“Well. I saw that Musa just got back as well, I promised him I’d bring him a bottle of good Bordeaux.”

Catalina looked up. “Ah, good, I need to ask him about something.”

“Good night, Alpha,” Joan said, taking her leave.

Catalina looked up, but waited until the door had shut fully behind Joan before speaking. “Back to the issue we were discussing,” she said, matching the earlier raises. As the cards were flipped over she smiled as her three queens beat James’s two pair, and the single pairs the others showed. “Do we do a search?”

“I not want to be party pooper but maybe telling security not bad idea,” Vasily said.

“Maybe, but we know how subtle the FBI bint can be.”

“Ech,” Vasily replied.

“I think we need outside help with this,” Buzz said, “but the question is, who do we trust to tell?”

“Garret,” Vasily said with a shrug. “Anyone who arrive after first login.”

“If what you think is correct,” Catalina said, “and the person needs to get off base, then it could be any of them.”

“I not know,” Vasily said.

“Was Musa away for the last download?” Catalina asked.

“I think so,” Vasily replied. “Also was Counselor Joan.”

“For some reason, I can’t imagine Drake as the saboteur,” Jane said.

“Can’t risk excluding her, she was here,” Catalina said. “Is there any way we can narrow down the list of personnel on base when the downloads occurred?”

“There should be entry and exit records for everyone in the base data store,” James said.

Catalina looked at Buzz. “Can you run a match?”

“I can, but if I do that, it will could let whoever it is know the hunt is on.”

“Whatever you decide, do fast, yes?” Vasily said.

They hushed as the door to the outer hall opened again, and two members of Beta Team entered the lounge. Eleazar Perez was chatting amiably with Ama Ngunyi, but he broke into a grin as he saw the members of Alpha around the table.

“That guy Musa, he’s okay,” he was saying to Ama as he entered the room. “He had some pirated videos, they were… hey now! If it isn’t Team A, playin’ some cards.“

“Hey there!” Jane said.

“We all poker monsters,” Vasily said.

“I believe they are occupied, Eleazar,” Ama said. “Now, you promised to show me this ‘Steven Segal’ movie?”

Eleazar waved his hands expressively. “Oh yeah, he’s the main man. There was this one movie, he took down a guy, lightning moves, almost as fast as me!” He took Ama’s arm as they left the lounge, heading for the new barracks in the east wing.

Buzz smiled to himself. “Ah, someone else can be a victim other than me,” he muttered under his breath.

Vasily laughed and shook his head. “They use Segal movie for Mexican special forces training, I hear.”

“That explains a lot,” Catalina said.

There was a general laugh around the table, but they quickly sobered as Vasily rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “You know, I have bad thought. What if it not just one? If they have two, hacker and courier…”

“The thought had occurred to me,” Catalina said.

“There’s too many ‘ifs’, that’s why I brought it to you guys,” Buzz said. “I think Drake is out too but we need to get someone involved.” He looked up and started noticeably; the others turned to see Inise Drake standing in the open doorway, a dark-skinned agent in a black suit looming like a shadow behind her.

“Well now,” she said. “Look who isn’t as thick as thieves.”

“Greetings,” Jane said, as Catalina raised the pot.

“Gambling. Why am I not surprised?”

“Nothing would ever surprise you, Agent Drake,” Catalina said, without looking up from her cards.

“Oh, I can be surprised. I’ve learned to expect things I am not expecting.”

“Like the Spanish Inquisition?” Catalina asked.

“You want something, Agent?” Vasily asked.

“No, nothing from you. Although I have to say, Homeland Security really liked that big new alien gun you brought back. I think we gave you… how much was it, Johnson?”

The big agent merely grunted and shrugged infinitesimally.

“Take good care of us and we might bring back some more goodies,” James offered, tossing his cards down.

“Indeed. Maybe next time we’ll throw in a cookie,” she said. “Enjoy your game.” She turned and headed toward the communications room, Agent Johnson following along behind her.

“An atmospheric dampening device, that one,” Catalina said.

“Strange to tell, I kind of like Agent Drake,” Vasily said. “Is like living in Cold War movie.”

Jane was watching after Johnson, as the door to the communications room slid shut. “Ever feel like he’s going to break out his forget ray, and put on black sunglasses?”

“Your country exists purely on pop culture references, Jane,” Catalina said. Once the door had fully shut, she leaned forward, and said, “So, decision time. Do we or do we not search?”

“Need to be careful,” Vasily said. “If Drake get wind, as I say, it all fall down.”

“Well, there’s three barracks here,” Catalina said. “Ours, the new one for Beta, and the one for the techies in the south wing.”

“Do we tell Garret, at least?” Vasily asked. “If we screw up, they will ask, ‘why you not tell someone like the boss?’”

“The real question is who do we trust,” Buzz added.

“I think we tell Hallorand,” James suggested. “If he’s in on it, we’re screwed anyway.”

“Am hoping Garret tell Hallorand,” Vasily said. “But yes, okay, Hallorand.”

“”Why don’t we tell him directly?” James asked. “Like right now?”

“I suppose the only thing that can go truly wrong is the person gets away, but at least then we lose no more,” Catalina said.

“No,” Vasily said. “Thing that can go truly wrong is, person get away, security leak exposed, X-COM disbanded.”

 

[Innocent Bystander]

So Cat is a glass half full kind of person and Vasily is a glass blown to bits kind of person.

 

[Vanya Mia]

He had pessimism down to an art form, bless him, but was awfully useful to hide behind when you didn't want to get shot.

 

[Lazybones]

Session 10 (June 16, 2008)
Chapter 32


Catalina winced. James said, “Hallorand won’t want that to happen, and will know how to handle the information.”

“Agreed,” Jane said. “Hallorand is the right person to tell.”

“Okay,” Vasily said. “Let’s go.”

“It’s the middle of the night,” Buzz pointed out. “Maybe he’s asleep?” He yawned, to punctuate the statement.

“It has been a long day,” Catalina admitted.

“All right, first thing in morning then,” Vasily said.

They quickly put away the chips and cards, and stood up, stretching and yawning a bit. “I need to check something in the lab,” James said, heading out into the main corridor. “I need to talk to Musa in the morning,” Jane said. “I put in an order for something special for Doctor Sandesh.”

“Thoughtful of you,” Catalina said, stifling another yawn.

The laboratories and workshops at X-COM headquarters never truly shut down, but the main lab was quiet in the early early hours, with just four scientists working at individual stations around the room. James headed over to the medical display unit, and tapped the screen to wake it from sleep mode.

The medical tech on duty, one of the surgical nurses, came out of the supply room. She was in her late forties, her blonde hair tightly done up in a no-nonsense bun. “Burning the midnight oil, doc?” she said, noticing James. Distracted, didn’t reply, but as she came over to him, he looked up. “Sorry, deep in thought. What can I do for you?”

“Oh, just saying hello. Say, Doctor Allen, have you seen Doctor Sandesh? He complained of headaches earlier, said he couldn’t sleep.”

“No. Where do you think he is?”

“I prepared him a draught, but I just came from the barracks, and he’s not in his bunk.”

“Not in his bunk?”

“It’s late, he’s probably just off wandering. Sometimes it’s hard to sleep in this place, you know. Sorry to bother you, doctor.”

“No problem. The base isn’t that big, maybe I can try to find him. Where does he usually go when he’s not sleeping or working?”

“He kind of keeps to himself. Sometimes he likes to find a quiet place to pray.”

“Not too many quiet places in this base. I’ll see if I can find him.”

A few minutes later, James poked his head into the barracks. Buzz was stretched out on his bunk, though he was still awake; Vasily was sitting on the end of his, while Catalina and Jane were presumably behind the folding partition that divided the room by gender.

“Vas, you seen Sandesh? His team can’t find him anywhere.”

“Uh, not here. I just get here.”

“He’s not in his bunk.”

The Russian frowned. “He was not hurt, right?”

Catalina came in, holding her toiletries kit. “What?” she said, seeing the others.

“Doctor Sandesh apparently not around anywhere,” Vasily said.

“Where could he have gone?” Catalina asked.

“Not in bunk or in lab or in canteen?” Vasily asked James. When the doctor shook his head, he said, “Where else scientist go?”

“We can make sure he hasn’t left the base at least, surely?” Catalina asked.

Jane came in, holding a book. “Something up?”

“Doctor Sandesh is missing,” Vasily said. “We need to spread out, search the base. Someone ask guards and in hangar. I will check the east wing.”

“I’ll go check the storage areas,” Jane said. The others followed, fanning out into different corridors as they moved further away from the barracks.

“Help you with something, ma’am?” the base guard outside the main lift asked, as Catalina fixed him with a lantern smile. “You wouldn’t have seen Doctor Sandesh anywhere, would you?”

The guard shook his head. “The Egyptian? No, nobody’s come through here tonight ‘cept for Drake and that agent, and they were leaving.”

“He must be hiding somewhere, I’ll find him,” she said, turning away from the guard with a wink. James caught up to her as she was heading out to the hangars. “Cat, before you go,” he said, hurrying to catch up.

“Yes?”

“Take one of these for our next mission. Insurance, in case I’m not available to use it.”

She frowned as she looked over the compact kit. “How do I use it?”

“It’s simple. For any puncture or energy wound, insert the prongs into the affected area, into living tissue, preferably. Then just hit the plungers.”

“Okay, I can manage that,” she said.

Doors slid open and shut in quick succession in an infrequently-used corridor used for storage. Jane remained in each room just long enough to verify that there was no place within where Sandesh could have been hiding, before moving on to the next one.

As Vasily headed down the corridor that led to the east wing of the base, he heard voices up ahead. Almost reflexively, he slowed down and listened.

“So, is it true what they say about stuntwomen?” Eleazar Perez said.

“I don’t know, what do they say?” returned a female voice, unfamiliar. As Vasily turned the corner, he saw its owner, standing next to Eleazar just outside the door to the tertiary barracks being used by Beta Team and the engineers assigned to the new Workshop Two. She was a curvy blonde, well-equipped with both muscles that showed a lot of work and a Hollywood smile that spread as she caught sight of the Russian. “Hello,” he said.

“They say,” Eleazar began, only to cut off as he saw Vasily. “Ah, it’s the Russian!”

“Yes. It is the Russian,” Vasily replied.

“Vosta… danya, whatever, man. Got any vodka?”

“Don’t mind him,” the woman said. “He’s an idiot. I’m Alyssa Sanders. You must be Vasily Kasprjak.”

“Hah,” Vasily said. “I look for Sandesh. You know? Odd Egyptian scientist man.”

“No, but I just woke up. El was watching this gods-awful movie.”

“Hey, don’t be dissing my main man!” Eleazar interjected. His eyes remained fixed on Vasily, though, with a hard look that suggested that he was unwelcome.

“Okay. Thank you both,” Vasily said. He started to leave, but Alyssa stepped in front of him. “I was thinking of heading over to the shooting range. Want to go with me?”

“Hey, you never want to shoot with me,” Eleazar protested.

“Yes,” she said, shooting a quick glance in his direction. “That’s right.”

“Eh, I wish I could, but… eh, okay. Need to get used to giant machine gun, hah.”

“I’ll bet you do,” Alyssa said.

“Bah, I’m going to bed,” Eleazar said, turning away in defeat.

Alyssa tucked her hand under Vasily’s arm as the pair made their way to the final corridor at the end of the east wing, where some of the engineers had set up a shielded practice range. A heavy tarp had been set up to muffle the noise, which Vasily pulled back to let Alyssa by. “How is life in Beta,” he began, but he was cut off as Alyssa let out a startled gasp. He followed her to see what had surprised her, then let out a harsh Russian curse. He quickly jumped over the low barrier that marked the start of the range, and bent over the limp form of Doctor Sandesh.

“Is he…” Alyssa asked.

Vasily looked up. “Please go to base corridor. Get Doctor Allen. He not dead. Not yet.”

“Right!” Alyssa said, and ran off.

 

[ejja_1]

Bump

Bump for bumps sake.