Rhijans paused...the kind of pause a caged cat makes when something distracts it from pacing the edge of the cage.  "Tough call...if we take him with us, Kourene talks to him sooner and the faster the base gets put on alert for people who've had interaction with Reise.  If he goes with you, he's got a much lower profile, as a target."

He looked at Barsh.  "How do you feel?  Want to get this over with as quickly as possible?  Or as safely as possible?"  He barely paused, before adding, "Keep in mind that, with us, while you're highly visible, you're also mobile.  With them, you're safe as long as nobody realizes where you've gone to ground. If they figure that out...and figure out where...you're a stationary target."

He shrugged.  "Either option is risky.  Which one do you prefer?"

"Let's try to avoid shooting anyone, at present, unless perfectly necessary," Shard comments.  "Good catch on the brawl, You-Why; looks like a random event rather than something planned.  I think we can let that go for now."

She purses her lips.  "If You-Why goes with Haarmon, that'll put both of our computer experts on this part of it...good idea, again.  As for Barsh, I'm with both Juragga and Rhijans: Barsh should have a say in it, and we can't leave him alone.  I'd prefer to take him directly to the colonel, but we don't precisely know where the colonel IS right now.  So we'd have to get that information first, anyway.  Which I propose we do - march down there and ask."

A shrug follows.  "If his office can't tell us, I can still get the information."  That last said with a rueful smile.  "I think."

Barsh frowns, "I don't know where I want to go.  Staying here is a bad idea, because word will have gotten round about where I am, but so is walking around the base.  I suppose you could stick me in a storeroom somewhere, and even lock me in to keep me from vanishing.  But you would have to be sure that nobody sees you putting me in there."

"I have no firm ideas." You-Why replies to Rhijans, "Though I would suggest going to the infirmary and asking the people there if they saw anybody making a call at about the right time.  They cannot all be involved in this.  You should try to do it without annoying them.  If possible."  The droid sounds quite pleased with his suggestion, coming, as it does, so soon after the praise for his success in determining the cause of the hangar riot.

At this rate he will soon be considered indispensable.

This was all getting complicated. And all this talk of moving targets and safe keeping was putting the zap on Haarmon's head.

"I think the only one going to be able to keep this balloon-head safe is Kourene. So maybe he ought to go with you. You can do, like, a drop and run, yeah? Or we could all go see the Boss Man. Safety in numbers. Get that sorted. Then everything else."

Rhijans gave the droid a calculating look.  For a protocol droid, he was proving surprisingly good at this whole espionage thing.  He made a mental note to talk to You-Why about his ownership history.  Later.  When they weren't worried about the whole base being compromised...

He nodded.  "That's actually not a half bad idea..." he mused aloud.  As Haarmon weighed in, he thought a little longer, before answering.

"Yes and no, about the safety in numbers.  If we're all together and someone is looking for us, they're going to be sure we've found what we're looking for if we're all together...which means they'll likely come after us in desperation, and I don't know if all of us together are ready to withstand a determined attack like that, especially if they aren't alone.  If we're split up, that tells them we're still looking."

He gave a half-nod, more to himself than anyone else in the room, and added, "Besides, the list he gave us is what Kourene has been able to resolve with his own resources.  While Barsh has given us some good leads to follow, he hasn't exactly handed us the whole intel package...so we need to keep looking, see where we can find links between what Barsh has given us and what Kourene wasn't able to clear...I'd rather you keep working on that while we go looking for the Colonel than have the search paused while we toss the base trying to find him.  Most efficient use of available resources..."

It wasn't a command...but there was no mistaking the surety in his tone.

Barsh's frown deepens.  It's starting to look like his would-be gaoler-bodyguards aren't really sure what they're doing.  Or, at least, they can't decide which of their plans is the best.  He decides to give them a nudge, "Look, standing around here, in a group, is going to get us all killed.  A thermal detonator thrown in through the door could take us all out in a single hit, and everything you've learned, or worked out, about this whole mess will be gone.  Worse than that... so will I, and I'm a witness for where the bomb came from.  if I die with you, then nobody else can find out what I know."

"Why not send a message to the Colonel, telling him what you know already, just in case, then take me somewhere safe?  Or broadcast what you know to the whole base, using the public address system.  That way what you've learned becomes public knowledge, and the only way to stop people knowing it would be an orbital bombardment or an invasion.  And we're rebels, we know how to deal with that sort of thing."

You-Why gives an electronic snort of derision, "It would make far more sense to ask in the infirmary to find out who informed the mob of Barsh's arrest."

Rhijans nodded.  Both suggestions had merit...

"Haarmon.  First thing you do back at your quarters is get word out...base-wide PA.  Witnesses have identified Volan Reise as being involved with the bombing in the mess hall.  Anyone should be on the lookout for Reise or his associates.  Then get that search running on filtering out Kourene's cleared personnel.  Juragga, you make sure he's safe while he does that."

He turned to Shard.  "You take Barsh, go find the Colonel.  I suspect once Haarmon's PA broadcast begins, he'll actually be looking for us...with a lot of questions.  Do your best to answer them and get Barsh into his hands safely."

He turned to You-Why.  "Since I've proven myself less than adept at asking people questions without making them defensive, you're coming with me to the infirmary to make some tactful inquiries about who sounded the alarm."  He nodded.

"Any questions?"

"Righto," Shard replies, with a snappy salute.  It could have appeared mocking; it wasn't, instead heading in the direction of ironic.  "C'mon, Barsh.  We're heading to find the colonel."  Pausing, she purses her lips.  "Yeah, not like that."

With some evident annoyance, she shrugs out of her heavy, concealing robe.  Beneath it, Shard wears her faded, somewhat threadbare black silk dress, fold across the chest and slit from calf to mid-thigh on one side for mobility.  Mid-thigh, mind, and no higher.  There's a gold cord, hanging low, around her waist; a single plain cylinder, scuffed and scratched metal, depends from it.  With a flick of the wrist, she plucks that free and holds the cloak out to Barsh with her left hand.

"Sling this on for the moment.  We'll get you a change of clothing first chance we get...mind the weight, there's a blaster pistol fixed on the inside right of the cloak."  Her smile is almost as sharp as her features.  "I want you able to at least shoot back if things go badly; don't use it without my say-so, and don't make me regret letting you have it."

Juragga rumbled an affirmation, then followed Haarmon to wherever the kid led him.

And so, at last, a plan is put into operation...

Rhijans and You-Why head for the infirmary.  On the way, the droid questions Rhijans about the sort of things he needs to be asking when they get there.  "While it would be simple to walk in and ask who had informed people outside the infirmary about Barsh being escorted away, that would likely make people wary of answering.  I shall need to use a more subtle approach,  Is there information you absolutely must have, which will need to be included in the question?"

Haarmon and Juragga make for the man's quarters, where Haarmon sets to work trying to hack into the base public address system.  It's fairly easy.  It's not a highly sensitive system, so the security on it is fairly low-key.  It's just time consuming...  Eventually though, he is in a position to broadcast a message.

Shard and Barsh head off to find the Colonel.  The first stop is his office, where they encounter an immediate problem.  The aide doesn't know where he is.  "With all the trouble, he decided to hold the meeting in secret to reduce the chances of being hit with another bomb.  Only the attendees knew where it was to be, and they were informed of it at the last minute.  For all I know, they aren't even on the base."

He eyes Barsh suspiciously...

Rhijans thought quickly.  "Tell them you're participating in a diagnostic check on the comm system, and need to verify if anyone used comm gear in or around Medical at the time in question."

While there was no physical motion, the shrug was practically audible in his tone of voice.  "Technically, it's true.  We're checking to see if the comm system was compromised by an Imperial agent.  They just don't need to know that part."  Another couple of strides, in thought, and he added, "I'll wait just outside Medical...if I come in with you, and you're asking questions about a time so closely connected to my last presence there, people will make the connection anyway and it's a wasted effort to try and be tactful."

Haarmon's brow was sweaty by the time he was done. Not that any of this was hard, exactly, it wasn't. He knew the base's security inside and out and this wasn't exactly master-slicer-put-a-virus-in-the-Death-Star kind of shenanigans.

But it was time consuming. And he was in a rush. And Rhijans had given him a task, and he didn't want to screw it up.

But, eventually, he was ready. Scripts written. Programs opened. And the security cam filters running in the background. He took a breath, gave Juragga a look for confidence (no one projected confidence like a well-fed wookie, and thumbed the PA System.

"Attention everyone, attention. All personnel, if I could have your... ummmm... attention." Void curse it. This was going south already. "Information has come to light. Identifying Volan Reise as responsible for the bombing in the mess hall. So we need everyone to keep an eye out for him or anyone working for him. He should be considered dangerous, so don't let him leave the base. If anyone sees him or knows about his whereabouts, hit the Panic Button right away and we'll come collect him. Do not engage him. And for Void's sake don't kill him."

That didn't sound right. But he couldn't fix it. Best to shut it down.

"That is all."

He thumbed the communicator off and looked up at Juragga again, hoping that sounded better outside than it did inside his head.

"Now, we wait?"

Juragga woofed his approval, then rumbled a query: Wait, or join the search?

"Well, that's just wonderful," Shard mutters to the unwelcome new.  Shaking off her dolor, she nods to the aide.  "Fair enough, I understand.  We'll manage for the moment.  But you'd better tell him -"

++ Attention everyone, attention. All personnel, if I could have your... ummmm... attention.  Information has come to light. Identifying Volan Reise as responsible for the bombing in the mess hall. So we need everyone to keep an eye out for him or anyone working for him. He should be considered dangerous, so don't let him leave the base. If anyone sees him or knows about his whereabouts, hit the Panic Button right away and we'll come collect him. Do not engage him. And for Void's sake don't kill him. ++

++ That is all. ++


Falling silent, Shard waits until the announcement finishes, then offers an apologetic shrug.  "As you can see, it's a bit of an emergency.  I know that people often say that, but perhaps this time you might agree.  If you could inform him we need to speak to him immediately?"

She purses her lips in a thoughtful moue.  "Depending on where he is, I suppose you might be hearing from him momentarily.  Barsh, we'd better get moving."

Any second now, someone might burst in looking for the colonel.  Someone with an axe to grind, so to speak.

The announcement fades away, and Shard reiterates just how important her request to speak with Kourene is.

"Look, I really have no idea where he is." the aide shrugs apologetically, "But as soon as he gets out of the meeting, and makes contact, I'll let the Colonel know what's going on.  But, just as a matter of information, Volan Reise is not currently on Mothessh.  He delivered a shipment of ration packs and left the system, on his own business, two days before the explosion.  His crew, both of them, left with him."

Rhijans and You-Why arrive at the infirmary, though only the droid enters.  Rhijans' suggestion that enquiries about the comm system should mention some sort of system diagnostic seems to work, and the protocol droid soon has a good idea of who contacted Doona Eskil and sparked the attempted interception of Barsh at the holding cells.

"It was, apparently, the injured technician, Kedra Ashaine.  She has admitted speaking to Doona Eskil as soon as you left her alone after your last visit."

Meanwhile, Haarmon and Juragga discuss their next course of action.  They've completed the task they were assigned as their part of the investigation, and don't have much else to do.

That might be about to change though, as there is a warbling from the door signal.  There is, it seems, somebody outside who wants to see them...

Haarmon sat straight up in his chair, eyes wide and heart hammering. No way that was some just love-struck table-jockey looking for love tips. Not this time. He looked over at Juragga, as much to reassure himself the Wookie was there as anything.

He called out, "Who is it?"

At the sound of the warble, Juragga unlimbered his bowcaster.  He nodded to Haarmon, and quietly motioned the kid to get out of the line of sight of the door.

Rhijans scowled slightly.  That was an unexpected wrinkle...and he didn't like unexpected things to happen.  At least, not to him.  He preferred making unexpected things happen to someone else.

"Shard," he said into his commlink, in a tone that was markedly terse, even for him.  "Eskil was tipped off by Kedra...the injured tech.  I could see her calling someone to check on Barsh...but we didn't say anything in front of her about Barsh being a suspect.  So why would she tell Eskil that we'd rounded up Barsh for being a spy?"

He stopped talking for a moment, scowling down at the floor.  After a moment, he looked up at the droid.  "I feel like a Squib running in circles after its own tail..." he grumbled, darkly.  He didn't know if You-Why would understand the metaphor...or the sensation...but he had to say something to someone.

Haarmon wasted exactly zero time moving away from the door and into the far corner. He didn't like Rags putting himself in danger on his behalf, and clearly he could handle whatever, but this is what Wookies did best, and he so seldom got to actually beat anything to taters.

Would be a shame to rob the poor guy of the experience.

He waited to see who, or what, answered.

"Thank you," Shard replies to the aide.  "It's critical, but we have no choice.  My com-line is open at present."  And it is - she needs to keep it open to intercept other information coming in from her team.

And here it comes.  "Stay put, Barsh."  She keeps the aide in her line of sight without looking like she's trying; it's not hard, really, given she just finished talking to him.  + Her? +  Shard continues over the com.  No names; she doesn't need Barsh flipping out or protesting.  + There were questions there, as well.  Maybe she got the idea from that?  It's a possibility. +

The other option, that Kendra might still be the traitor, she leaves unsaid.

+ You think it's safe for you to go check it out?  Or want to wait? + She slowly studies the Colonel's outer office.  + I'm thinking about hanging around the colonel's office until he comes back.  It might be the safest place on the base. +
This message was last edited by the player at 13:44, Mon 13 Apr 2015.

"I can question her if you like."  The protocol droid seems... enthusiastic... about the idea.  Almost as if he would enjoy it.  Possibly enjoy it a little bit too much.

The aide scowls at something on the desk, then looks at Shard.  "Did your people clear that little announcement with Security?  They're reporting that somebody hacked into the site comm network and broadcast an unauthorised message."

There is a brief silence from outside Haarmon's quarters, and then a voice answers, "Base Security.  We'd like a word with you, please."

Arrgh.

"No, likely it didn't go through proper channels, but we're in a bit of a rush here.  Shortcuts were probably taken." She crosses her arms.  "I'm perfectly willing to take responsibility, but we're currently under orders of the colonel and trying to protect our witness.  If we need to expedite things a tad, we will."

Unfold the arms, hold up palms.  "Please inform security that I'm responsible.  When the colonel comes back, he can rake me over the coals for it.  Until then, I have to continue to carry out the task he set."  Her lips thin.  "That is, find out who trying to kill our people."

Juragga chirped a soft warning to Haarmon.  Anyone can claim to be base security, he noted.

OOC: Is there a back way out of Haarmon's quarters?
This message was last edited by the player at 23:42, Mon 13 Apr 2015.

Rhijans gave the droid an inscrutable look.  "You and I need to have a very serious discussion sometime.  But not now."

He looked back into Medical.  "We need more info on her background.  As I recall, Kourene put her on his cleared list, but primarily because she saved his life.  How good are you at calling up standard records on the base computers?" he asked.

"Stuff like work assignments for technicians.  Whose ships brought them to Mothessh initially.  Or if not that one, what their initial date of arrival was, and whether or not specific ships arrived that same day."  He thought for another moment, and added, "Or, specifically, which base personnel were brought here by Volan Reise."

He wouldn't have brought any of his own personnel in that way, if he'd been the spy...but, then again, he wouldn't have done something like telling Barsh to plant a bomb to try and impress a girl, either.  Just because he didn't think it was the smart way to do it didn't mean that someone else thought the same way.

"Is that something you can do?  Or will we need to go track down Haarmon and add that to his list of projects?"

Haarmon nods to Juragga. That was rich, the gregarious life-loving wookie reminding the bitter cynical slicer not to talk to strangers. But that was why the two of them got on so well.

He called out. "Have your word. No one's stopping you. But no one's opening anything until I see some credentials."