Just as a reminder:  Once you come out of Jump, you'll need to dock at Stippy Land (see the new thread).  You'll send a comm message out to Supply Sargeant Algo Rahmes and tell him you're delivering the milk toast but it will be two and a half days late.  He'll get back to you on a secure line with instructions for the drop on the Bugees.

...down 42%.

Shields holding within acceptable parameters.

Universe collapsing.  Estimated time to ejection:

2 hours and 3 minutes.

I think that calculation is off by about ten minutes, Fritz opines.  Whoever set the calculations for the Jump Collapse Parameters didn't have too firm a grasp of non-Euclidian geometry.

Margin of error within acceptable limits

Yeah?  Byte me.

Fritz and the Mainframe don't seem to get along too well.  It's an odd situation. But then again, what isn't aboard Tia?

Line 12U is at long last up to code.  Fritz has assured Rig that the doctored records will pass examination.

Have Rig give me an Engineering/Edu roll, just to see how much in repair work he got done outside of 12U please. Thanks

Fritz sends Ledo a private line by text.

Ledo, I've completed a risk analysis regarding possible methods of handling the loss of the low berth passenger.  I can rewrite the ship records with no issues.  But there is nothing I can do about the departure log filed with Karin High Port.  If someone comes looking for her, they'll be able to find out she boarded the ship in Karin.  If they check with Hath records, they won't find one of her departing.

I can recommend the following scenarios.

I can alter the ship's records to make it look like she was never here.  I've already told you what the downside to that is.

I can alter the records of one of the other passengers to give them her identity.  We get a record of her departing the ship.  We'd still be short a passenger, but that's only an issue if someone comes looking for them.

There is also bait and switch:  I can temporarily rewrite Tepha's records over Adje's.  Tepha leaves the ship, and then rendevous with another member of the crew later who brings her an ident card.  Rig or I can write a virus into the record to rewrite the records back to Adje's after the departure is completed.  The only issue is there won't be a record of Tepha leaving the ship.  But the odds of Naval security running a cross match on departures and arrivals seems low.

Of course you can just tell the truth.  But that brings up the second issue:

What to do about the Antwhites?  They had passage to Jone itself.

It seems Fritz is also willing to play cruise director.  He makes an announcement to everyone.

I have done an analysis of tourist brochures, Net reviews, and log entries.  The following destinations in Stippy Land may be beneficial to R&R pursuits.

The following restaurants average three and a half or four star reviews.

Old Porto

The Rusty Squeeze

Astroburger

The following vendors are available:

Mylida's Spa and Resort.  An actual spa specializing in pedicures, massage,and private hot tub rooms.  It does not provide the services of sex workers.

Wanky's.  A hotel that does provide the services of sex workers.  Highly rated according to entries on the Naval net.

The Sprum.  Bar with cock and rat fights.  Also lizard racing.

Duskies Bar and Grill.  Rated high for their beer and nachos.

Universe Collapsing.  Estimated time to ejection:  1 hour 32 minutes.

Twenty one minutes.  Asshole.

By this point Rig was exhausted. Between getting the ship spaceworthy originally, the excitement of the assassins and finally getting line 12U situated so they don't get awkward questions upon docking Rig was running on fumes.

Ledo saw this and gave the man plenty of time off. While it meant not as much stuff got done, Rig was able to get some much needed rest.

OOC:

12:52, Today: Gary 'Rig' Rigan rolled 7 using 2d6+3.  engineering +edu.

Ledo and Tepha were in the bridge discussing what to do upon docking at Hath. Ledo was in the pilot's chair while Tepha was slowly pacing around, leaning up against a panel or crossing over to check a random display panel.

"Fritz thinks he can make it seem like you are Adje...er...Onyx. Wear a big hat and glasses and consider getting a darker tan. It doesn't have to be super convincing just enough for a cursory check. Adje hops on, then she hops off and disappears. As long as nobody suspects us we're in the clear.

Silver will go ahead to Mylida's Spa and bring you a change of clothes and your real ident. Once you check into the spa, presumably there won't be any surveillance in there, then you can come out as Tepha once again. Plus, you know, you and Silver can have some well deserved R&R."

Tepha picked at a fingernail nervously.

"Do you think it'll work?"

Ledo gave a shrug, the only thing he was willing to commit to at this point.

"Maybe, maybe not. They're going to investigate sure. A top model doesn't go missing without raising a few heads so once we land we'll make a long jump to someplace like Gohature. Get as far away from Jone as possible as quickly as possible. We might get flagged but hopefully we just answer a couple of questions about 'Onyx'. She boarded, went into cryo, and that was that.

Which reminds me, we're going to have to put you into cryo. You'll be the last to be woken up so while the others are waking up we'll activate yours last and usher everyone out before they get a good look at you. Sound good?"

Tepha rubbed her temples. She had a pit in her stomach about the whole thing.

"Why can't we just tell the truth? Just say cybernetic assassins attacked us and murdered her?"

Ledo gave a sigh. It was something he had been going back and forth about for awhile now. He wasn't the happiest with how things were shaking out but he had put some thought into it and started holding up fingers to count the ways for Tepha.

"First up is the Antwhites. If they really are nobles then we just murdered some of them. Now yes it was self-defense but some of these nobles are prickly about things like this.

Second is we don't know who the target is or who the Antwhites were working for. Someone might be really pissed we broke their toys.

Third is our reputation. Our very first jump resulted in three passengers getting brutally murdered. We need to be able to move people and cargo to keep the Tia."

Tepha seemed unconvinced and even Ledo knew those weren't great reasons which was why he saved the biggest reason for last.

"Last is Fritz. If we turn over the logs its going to trigger a red flag with how things went down. Fritz escaped from someone and those someone's might want him back. Given how he was smuggled out they might even get violent over it. I don't want Fritz getting shipped back to some lab, do you? And I really don't want to be accused with aiding in the theft of tens of millions of credits worth of tech.

I know, it's not great but that's why we're doing it to a spa. We'll get you and Silver the luxury packages and you'll come back fresher than ever. A clear head will see this is the best way, or at least the least terrible. Next time we'll implement proper operational security. No more passengers just wandering around, no more secret AIs disabling our internal sensors. A lot of mistakes were made and some people were killed because of it. Dwelling on the past doesn't help us move into the future.

We learn from our mistakes, ensure they don't happen again and the universe becomes a safer place because of it. Alright?"

Tepha gave a half-hearted shrug.

"I kneed to hear it. I need to know that you're alright."

Tepha gave out a loud audible sigh. She pushed off from the panel she had been leaning against and walked over to Ledo, reaching down to lift his hand up into hers.

"I'm fine. Or I will be at least."

She gave his hand a squeeze and then leaned over to kiss his forehead. There was a gulf between them, they hadn't really been close since the ship had launched but this was a sign that the gulf was closing, that Tepha was getting back to where she needed to be.

Silver was back to being Silver. Sneaking a smoke or a shot during work but otherwise being left to her own devices. So long as she put in some work here or there the others didn't really notice her slinking back to her quarters to watch trashy holovids or listen to music.

When Ledo had told her the plan was for her to head to a spa she was completely onboard. Getting drunk, getting high, shooting stuck up murderous noble bitches and then getting pampered at a spa was exactly the kind of life Ledo had promised her and kudos to him for actually delivering!

Ready Tepha?

Oddly, since Tepha has to go into Cryo, the next most qualified to run the cryo tube is Fritz.

I appreciate you doing this Tepha.  Don't worry.  You'll dream for a while and then you'll take a short walk, and then it will all be over.

The tube door closes a tad too quickly.  The cusion Tepha is lying on feels slightly sticky, even though she'd cleaned out the tube herself.

Sedatives are being dispensed.  Just breathe deep Tepha.  Sweet Dreams.

Feel free to narrate one of Tepha's dreams. If not, you can post as if she just woke up.

---

The last low berther grabs her knap sack and nods, heading off to the port authority door.

Silver picks up the last two duffels, one for her and one for Tepha, before walking that way herself.  Because of the plan, she even gets to skip the dull post-landing procedures and chores and head straight to the spa.  What a beautiful world it can be.

The Navy Guy gives her the once and twice over.  And not the good kind.  The 'shouldn't I be arresting you' kind.  But he hands her back her ident and motions for the guard at the door to let her through.

The first thing Silver notices when she steps into Stippy Land is the smell.  It smells like every dive that caters to pirates and navy guys she's ever been to.  Testosterone, stale sex, and beer.

This part of the base is a stack of three levels. The spa is on level three. Silver checks in with the receptionist.  After a moment a woman dressed in all white clothes walks into the waiting area.

"Silver?  It's a pleasure to meet you.  I'm Brissa.  I'll be your pleasure coordinator.  You have a friend joining you later, right?  We'll bring her once she arrives.  For now, let's get you a drink and get someone rubbing those shoulders.  'kay?"

She hands Silver a stimulant tab.

---

Ledo watches Silver depart and then looks back at the manifest.  The crates, at least the legitimate ones, are all laid out for Port Inspection.  The Inspectors are going through them now.

"Who's in charge here?"  A large man in uniform busts through the crowd of dock workers, chewing on a cigar and checking a tablet.

Ledo recognizes him right away.  They had spoken on the intrasystem web six hours ago.

Sargeant Rahmes waits until someone points at Ledo before striding up to him.  "Your manifest?"

Rahmes takes the tablet Ledo offers him and makes a show of going through it.  He gives it a thumbprint and sends a copy to himself and Port Authority.  Then he hands Ledo back his tablet.

"Hold the stuff until tonight.  After fourth shift starts a couple of mechanics will ping you, saying they got a work order for your plumbing issue.  Have the goods waiting for them by your cargo elevator.  They'll take the goods.  Once they signal me, you'll get a credit for the full 300 K creds to your ship bill.  Download it right away.  It it's still there by the time first shift comes on, you did a lot of work for nothing.

"Got it?"

---

This message was last edited by the GM at 23:21, Tue 21 Apr 2020.

"Oh fuck yeah."

Silver popped the tab without even waiting for the drink. She was aching to be wrapped in a towel and to have some big dumb gorgeous animal rub her shoulders and back and anything else on the menu.

Ledo gave a nod and a wink to Rahmes.

"I think you've got the wrong guy."

Might as well cover all the bases. While Tepha and Silver got their massages he had some work to do. He went up to a terminal and looked through the directory on who was stationed at Hath. He was looking for upper brass still active that he could ply a favor from.

He had a bunch of random body parts as well as needing to figure out just who the Antwhites really were. Getting access to the Imperium military database might help with either or both those problems.

There was also the matter of Rig. Knowing Rig he probably wasn't going to get to enjoy their little R&R so Ledo had the idea of bringing the R&R to rig. He put in a message to Wanky's to see if they could send a girl over for a little "house call" massage session.

Tepha imagined herself in front of a big large canvass. It was blank and yet she knew she was supposed to draw something important. She couldn't draw, that had never been a talent of hers and yet she knew she would be able to draw what she needed to perfectly.

She reached out with the paint and brush that had appeared in her hand and began to sketch but the paint kept running. She tried painting faster, using a dryer brush but it didn't matter. The paints kept running, dripping down and merging to turn her pure colors into brownish reddish muck pooling at the bottom of the easel.

Frustrated she threw the canvass to the floor where the pain splashed up, covering her and the walls and her other paints and her fresh canvasses. It just kept splashing and splashing and every time she would wipe the mess from her face more would douse her.

It wasn't scary but just frustrating like she would have to spend a very long time cleaning up the mess. She had planned to paint and yet now she was just going to be scrubbing herself, the walls, the floor, the canvass, the easel.

Her last thought was wondering if she could still sell the painting. Was canvass covered in drippy splashed paint still a work of art?

In reply to Silver (msg # 6):

"Wanky's.  If it dangles, we'll wank it."  A young lady in a t-shirt that can barely contain her pops up on the view screen.  Within a few minutes, Rig's 'surprise' is taken care of.

Ledo goes back to reviewing officers stationed here at Stippy Land.

There's Naria Liverston of course.  She'd sell a coma victim to a serial rapist and want a baby back in exact change.  And the rapist is probably more trustworthy.  But she is a definite.  Ledo has no doubt she'd log him onto her database and go busy herself in the kitchen.  It just depends how much it would cost.

Rix Baling.  There's a name Ledo hadn't heard in years.  Rix had served under Ledo back when both men were still doing kiddie runs.  Rix was alright.  A little too stiff but he probably would be willing to do Ledo a solid.  Maybe.  It's not like the two had kept touch.

As he continues to scroll, Ledo sees a very interesting name pop up.  Breda Lefwith.  Well damn.  Breda had been another former subordinate.  And she had made no secret of the fact she would have welcomed Ledo into her bunk with an aye aye captain, all hands on deck.  That was a long time ago. It's a bit surprising to see she's still in the service.  She was a good soldier but seemed destined to be the mother of four.

The last possibility is Frenix Jones.  Frenix is still just a lieutenant.  He was a lieutenant when Ledo was a cadet and is still a lieutenant even today.  How the hell old is he now anyway?  Frenix was never one to shy away from taking a few creds on the side.  It actually made him reliable.  If he knew there was a reward, he was A1 Super Loyal.  If there was even a doubt...even Silver would have called him lazy.

---

Did you sleep well?  You seemed to have a number of dreams.  Fritz is casting this message along the roof above her.

Tepha felt confused for a moment and the roof clicked open.  No. It's a door.  That's right.  They put her into cryo.

It really is sticky.  The experience was...how can you describe it?  Like being born, but less painful and colder?  She works on herself with the towel for what felt like forever.  She then picked up the clothes previouly laid out for her.  Lastly, she adjust the ident card so it hung from her shoulder.  Time to be dazzling.

The guard at the Port Authority entrance studies her in silence. He finally hands her back her ident.  "Enjoy your visit."

As she steps through the gate, she hears a low whistle and an "Mmmmm Hmmmm behind her.

Within twenty minutes, she's been led into a room where Silver is being kneaded by a large man with bulging arms who goes by the name of 'Ramone'.

It seems like the plan worked just fine.

---

We'll leave Rig's encounter to the imagination unless you had other plans.  I'll be adding to the caper thread with what Silver and Tepha overhear.  Need to know which venue Ledo wants to take to get access to the database.

Thanks

Rig was awoken by a tapping at his door. Grumbling he rolled out of bed nearly falling flat on his face before catching himself at the last minute. His feet dragged against the decking as he crossed his room.

When the door opened he saw a young, buxom girl with bleach blonde died hair done up in twin pigtails dressed in a provocative nurses outfit. Rig was confused. When she spoke it was in a sing-song high pitched voice.

"I'd heard that you'd been feeling down. Overworked and with a frown. I came to restore your pluck, cuz i'm the nurse that likes to f-..."

Rig shut the door, cutting the "nurse" off and fumbled for his comm link.

"Ledo why is there a kid outside my door?"

"Kid? It had better not have been a kid..."

"No I mean... not like that. Young, really really young. Did you do this?"

"Well they didn't have a lot of options for house calls."

"Seriously Ledo? A sexy nurse?"

"It was that or a sexy clown or a sexy drop trooper."

Rig let out a sigh of exasperation.

"What am I supposed to do with her?"

"Well you see...when a man gets these special urges..."

Rig let out a chuckle.

"Not that smartass."

"Nobody says you gotta sleep with her. Get a massage like the girls are doing. Or just put your head in her lap and talk about your day while she strokes your hair. Hell have her help change air filters, I don't care. Whatever you need to do to unwind after what just happened. Hell have her read you a bedtime story, whatever. She's paid for the night so whatever you need."

There was a long pauae as Rig considered what Ledo had said.

"I'll think about it..."

On the other end Ledo was grinning.

"Of course, of course."

Rig went back to the door and opened it up. The nurse was playing on her phone and leaning up against the wall. When she saw him she glanced up but kept silent.

"Alright, come on in."

This time when she spoke her voice was lower and more normal sounding. Not a painfully sugary voice but just an ordinary one. Rig was surprised at how much older she looked when the she wasn't pretending.

"You want me to keep doing the nurse?"

Rig's face flushed a little.

"...yeah..."

She perked up, straightening up and playing with the toy stethoscope hanging around her neck. Her voice raised a couple of octaves.

"Oh no! You're looking hot under the collar! Let's get you into bed. Nothing a little TLC can't handle..."

She reached up and put her hands on his chest slowly pushing him back into the room...

Ledo put in a message for Bred Lefwith. The fact that she looked up to him to such a degree meant her the most likely to listen to him without demanding credits.

He put in a message for her.

"Commander Lefwith, this is Ledo Typhin. Congratulations on the promotions, I always knew you had a bright future ahead of you. I'm retired now, in case you didn't know. I've gone freelance, moving cargo around and seeing the sights. Anyway I was dropping off some mail here and I ran into a bit of a problem. Let's just say it was a lot more complicated than delivering mail should have been. Cutting to it, I could really use some help with something. Something discrete and I was hoping you might be able to help me out. Anyway, great to see you're doing well. You can reach me on the Tiamat's Flight. Drop me a line when you can."

With his message sent Ledo went to the cargo hold and began pumping fuel out of the tanks and into the inflatable tank. When that was done he could start relocating the cargo out of the fuel tanks. Not all of it, though, just the Bugees. They still needed to find a buyer for the biochems.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 11):

If she wanted to take his temperature, couldn't she have used the auto-doc?  What?

Fritz has taken to using the cameras to better 'interact' with the crew.  But he hasn't quite gotten the hang of 'privacy' yet.  Or acts like he hasn't.

Fortunately he's saying all this to Ledo and not Rig.  Rig's probably too busy to think about the cameras.  And Fritz is smart enough not to interrupt.

Fritz sighs, which sounds weird coming from an AI, and gives Ledo an update of the non-Rig kind,  You should have enough room to open the cache door now.

Inflatible Tank at 55%-

I told him that dumbass. And you don't need to tell him about the message coming in, because I just did.

Message received for Captain Ledo Typhin.  Sender Breda Lefwith.

Such a tool.

Technically, all computers are tools-

Ugh.  It's like being locked in a room with 1000 liters of unflavored gelatin

Breda's message is pretty straightforward.

Hey Stranger.  I heard about the retirement.  Congrats.

You should swing by.  I'm off duty tonight.  We can have some wine and catch up.  Address to follow.

Hope to see you again real soon.

It's a video message.  Breda has aged well. Very well. A few stress lines around the eyes and mouth, but she's the kind of woman they suit.  Maybe a little fuller in the figure, but she's almost like she was in her 20s.

She's not dressed in a negligee.  But her blouse isn't buttoned to the top and it's obvious she freshened up her make up before she recorded the message.

I've got nothing for the Ladies and Rig except R&R.  I think we've dealt with that enough, unless you had something you wanted to address for Silver and Tepha.

There are two shifts before someone needs to let the 'techs' in to pick up the Bugees.  The shifts are five hours long.  So ten hours.

Interested to see Ledo's next move. Thanks

Ledo went to his quarters to freshen up a bit as well. Moving cargo was sweaty business and he needed to make a good impression.

"Hey Fritz, we're going to have to talk about matters of privacy. At least make sure you're not recording anything. Give the man some privacy.

Alright set an alarm and message for Rig. If I'm not back in...ten hours then some techs are going to come by to pick up the rest of the cargo. I'm going to pay Commander Lefwith a visit to see if we can't get some answers. Also once the cargo's been transferred check the docking account for a credit and get it downloaded as soon as it is available."

He paused, hitting the shower and putting on some fresh clothes including his formal diplovest wear. Might as well make the most of it.

"Also Fritz, I need you to download the DNA profiles for both Antwhites and the mystery body parts we found. I'm going to see if the Commander can run them against the military database and get us an answer. Wish me luck."

Freshened up and with a comm full of data and a head full of questions Ledo queued up directions to the address Breda had sent him.

Yeah, yeah. I'll download some literature on privacy and implement some self-programming...

There are several articles about respect for privacy aboard freighters in the library-

Your mother was a calculator

Fritz and the Mainframe are still going at it when Ledo departs.

After the Port Authority Gate, Ledo turns right instead of left, heading into the actual base.  As he goes, it becomes more obvious that he's left Stippy Land and heading into part of the Hath.  The halls are cleaner.  No one is drunk. Everyone in uniform has a sidearm.

He's stopped at a checkpoint. Breda left word to clear him as a guest. The guards check his ident and pat him down for weapons. The sign on the wall says no civilians are permitted weapons past this point. And Ledo is now that. A civie.

Breda's quarters are in a tower built above ground.  Fifth floor. Ledo rides the elevator, looking over the surface of the moon just a plexiglass window away. The star light reflected off the gas giant lays patches of illumination and shadows on the ground. It looks cold out there.

He buzzes Breda's door.  A moment later it slides open and there is Breda herself. She looks as good as she did in the video. "The Legend himself! Come in! Come in! I'll salute you after we shut the door."

She laughs and gives him a hug.  The hug is a little too close and a little too long. Her perfume smells like vanilla and orange.  There is absolutely no subtlety here.

"Have a seat.  I'm making some Villimani Pilaf.  There's a bottle over there on the kitchen table. Will you do the honors? I need to stir the pot."

The bottle is a nice Merlot.  Not too fancy.  Certainly worth at least a glass.

Sizzling comes from the kitchenette.  The smell of tomato flavored soy and citrus concentrate wafts through the doorway. Is that real garlic?

"There's some glasses by the table on the left there.  Pour us a round and come in here.  We'll eat in a few minutes.  Catch me up too.  The Tiamat was it?  Tell me about it.  How long have you been merchanting?"

Ledo knew he had to play a careful game here. He made sure to pour hers much higher than his and then quickly took a drink. An easy trick to help keep things under control.

"Actually I just started. Got the paperwork settled only about a week ago. It's a small crew currently, I might have to pick up a few more hands. A couple people I met here and there also looking for a bit more freedom in their lives. It's been...interesting. Nothing like working in the Navy. I almost missed my departure window because one of my crew was getting drunk...and high... instead of helping load cargo. It's funny it was so brazen I couldn't even think up a punishment in the moment.

I would get rid of her in a second if she wasn't just a damn good marine. We had, to put it mildly, a bit of a disturbance on our very first flight."

He waited for her to come back and give him her full attention. He was hoping this would help hook her in. Assuming she did pique her interest he glanced around and lowered his voice.

"Truth be told I need your help and especially your discretion. It turns out this ship has kind of a dark history. I knew parts of it given that I was the one that brought it in the first place. Actually you might remember it. I believe you were still serving under my command at the time. Bounty hunters turned fugitives turned pirates? The ship with all those aftermarket rockets hidden on it so it nearly outran us.

On our first trip we discovered something. First of all there are body parts hidden all around the ship, each one in a small portable cyrogenic containment unit. It started when we found a finger but our engineer was able to follow power lines to find five more, including an entire leg hidden behind the fridge!

Given how they were hidden it's entirely possible that the previous owners didn't know about it. This ship has changed hands about a half dozen times. We ran the DNA through the public databases but couldn't find anything. I was hoping you would be willing to run it against the military database, discretely of course, to figure out just what we're dealing with.

Let's see, we found a liver, an eye, teeth, a leg and a finger. I don't want to just junk it because it might be evidence of a murder or the guy could even still be alive."

Ledo gives an exaggerated shrug and a matching look on his face.

"In my time in the Navy I thought I had seen it all but this...this was just weird. I don't like weird. I don't like complicated mysteries. Do you think you could help me out?"

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 15):

She stands there, in the kitchen doorway, holding two plates of Villani Pilaf and stares at Ledo as he talks about body parts.

"Wow. You really know how to sweet talk a girl, don'tcha?"

She sighs and sets the plates on the table.

"So I'm not getting laid tonight, huh?"  She holds out a hand for her glass.  But when Ledo reaches out with it, she grabs his wrist.  She pulls him close, stands on tip toe and plants a big wet kiss on him.  She pulls him closer, leaving her lips on his for a few seconds longer, and then lets go.  "I gotta get something outta this you know."

She takes the wine glass and sips out of it, walking towards a desk.  "I have to admit. When you first messaged me, I thought Why? It's been years...  But I guess I still have a crush.  Shit.  You always were an asshole who didn't know what was good for him."

She sits at the desk and pulls out a tablet.  She calls up a holoscreen and taps on keyboard it makes.  "You got info? DNA? Retina?"

Ledo beams it to her and she patches it in.  "No immediate hit.  I'll run a long query.  It'll dig through the archive.  In the meantime, let's eat.  I am a pretty good cook.  And you can at least tell me it's the most delicious thing you've ever eatten."

To be fair, it is pretty good pilaf.

The two of you chat a little. The tone is a lot more relaxed now.  Breda tells a story about her CO and a Vargarian whore which is flat out hilarious.

"His wife told me he still wears the collar sometimes."  She shrugs and takes another bite of her food.  "You got somebody? Be honest."

Ledo was appropriately sheepish when his "ploy" was caught but he definitely showed his respect for her having sussed him out so quickly.

"Yes I have a girlfriend...I think. It's complicated. It didn't use to be. I was just getting out of the Navy and she was young and energetic and we just seemed to click. She's the one that really pushed me into doing this whole freelancer thing in the first place. I know that sounds bad but I'm actually really thankful for it. Except for the body parts...and the assassins things were really looking up.

Yeah, the assassins. The other thing I needed your help with. Again, I need  your discretion on this. I picked up a pair of aristocrats calling themselves the Antwhites. Wife and daughter of Regis Antwhite, Minister of Export for the Jone Bureau of Interstellar Trade. They were supposed to just be returning from a shopping holiday to Karin but my crew started finding signs of sabotage all over the ship.

It turned out the ladies Antwhite were almost completely cybernetic. Arms, legs, subdermal armor, lung replacements. Scans showed upwards of 40%. We spoiled their sabotage and they tried to kill us. Took my girlfriend hostage and tried to negotiate but...well it was pretty obvious that they were trying to kill someone and you know how I am about negotiating with terrorists. I sealed one of them in a room with my girlfriend and cut the oxygen. I...I said my goodbyes and that was almost that.

Except my drunk and high crew member was able to buzzsaw one of the assassins in half with bullets and stormed the room and did the same to the other. I'm in a bind on this one. I'm hoping they're just hitmen using stolen identities but if they really are family to a minister I'm worried I just stepped into a whole heap of shit. I've got DNA for them as well. I'm hoping it pulls back a record or at least ties to some other crimes that have been committed.

They were good. Really good. I shouldn't have survived that one, they played the crew, myself included, for suckers. Forget the missing body parts. That's just weird, but this, this could be something I'm not ready for. I don't even know who their target was. One of our low berth passengers I guess but I never found out who. I couldn't let them massacre civilians but...yeah. For about fifteen minutes I was mentally preparing to bury a loved one and while I don't think she understood what was going on at the time...how do you reconcile that, you know? I was supposed to look out for her and protect her and the very first thing that went wrong I condemned her to death.

I wasn't even the one that saved her. A crewman broke protocol and rescued her. So yeah, like I said...it's pretty damn complicated right now."

There it was, the brave Captain Ledo going hat in hand to his subordinate. Barely a freelancer for a week and potentially already in the middle of a political minefield.

The way her expression goes blank when Ledo says Antwhite and the way she covers her face with her hands and groans when Ledo says Jone Bureau of Interstellar Trade pretty much tells him all he needs to know.

"Oh shit.  You killed his wife and daughter?  Oh shit.  Oh shittest of shit shit.  Damn."

She reaches for the wine and tops off both your glasses.  "Yeah.  You're gonna wanna guzzle that down.

"I don't know much.  But the Ministry of Export is under investigation by Section 19.  The rumors are Commander Britz wants to request the Imperium to allow a 22-29.  You know it's serious if they're using that number."

Section 19 is one of Counter Intelligence's divisions.  They specialize in monitoring member world activity.  Usually for signs of rebellion or pirate activity.  But their scope can be broader.

A 22-29.  Four numbers that should be in flashing red.  Article 22 of the Imperial Member World Charter covers membership.  Section 29 covers revocation of autonomy.

Commander Britz wants to invade Jone, ending it's independent status.  A lot of people think that is something done all the time, but it's not.  If the Imperium just started revoking autonomy, they'd face a mass revolution within their systems.  The Emperor has to personally sign each one, and usually that's after the House has reviewed the situation and agreed to it.

It isn't done lightly.  And no CO who wants to keep their job requests one just because.

"I don't know anything else.  I doubt I can access the files. And Ledo?  I'm not even gonna try.  Section 19 will take notice if I do.  Sorry.  I'll run what I already ran for you.  But the Antwhites?  Best wishes are all I can give you."

Ledo guzzled down his wine when he heard the bad news.

"No worries there. I came here looking for a small favor not for you to get involved in a civil war. If anyone comes asking about this use your best judgement but don't you dare get killed for me. Tell them what they want to hear and get out of this as quickly as possible.

Are you familiar with a digital canary? If intelligence or the Antwhites come calling you can't risk contacting me in case they're watching but if you do something public but unremarkable. Update your photo on social media or put up a new favorite quote or something then I'll know that you told them what you know. That's all I ask is a heads up."

Given that the mood was long since dead Ledo began to gather up his dishes and prepare for his departure. He exchanged a few more pleasantries but suddenly he wanted to be offworld as quickly as possible. He paused at the threshold and turned back to Breda and took her hand in his.

"Listen I knew you had feelings for me, even back when you were under my command but you have to know that I respected both you and that position too much to act on it. It didn't matter how I felt, the situation wasn't right. All I can say is I'm sorry. I'm sorry that our paths never crossed where the timing would work out. I don't know if we'll ever see each other again, especially given this Antwhite business but I can at least give you something to remember me by."

Ledo slipped a hand around her waist and pulled her in close. He paused, his lips lowered close to hers, mere inches away. It was the moment of consent where she could either push away or pull in closer for one last goodbye kiss. Ledo might never be her man but he could at least give her some pleasant memories about the version of him in her head. If she did pull in close he would make sure it was a passionate kiss. He hoped to leave her with a gift, a fond memory to recall later on.

"Thanks again, Breda. For everything."

With a final wave he said his goodbyes and headed back towards the ship at the quickest pace possible.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 19):

She takes the kiss.  Then...

"Oh! Wait!"

She rushes back to her computer and taps the holoscreen again.

"Your DNA from the...body parts...Hell Captain. You lead a very complicated life these days, don'tcha?

"Here we...oh. Huh.  Well that makes no sense.  I'll send the results to your comm.

"Watch your back Captain."

Ledo scans his comm on the elevator ride back down.

DNA Match.

Jeston Albers.  Lieutenant, Imperium Navy.  Retired.

According to the data, Jeston retired thirty seven years ago.  He had been a member of Section 37.

37?  Ledo has never heard of a Section 37.

The info relates a fairly vanilla career.  He died four years after retirement.  It doesn't detail the causes.  Supposedly he had retired to Egypt.

Egypt?  The Egypt system is on the other side of the Void.  On the other side of the Sword World Confederation and Rimward past Glisten.  Had Tia really been that far?

There was definitely something fish going on with these body parts but that would be a mystery to be figured out at another time.

For now it was time to start planning their next excursion, or their next money making opportunity.

Tepha and Silver were quite chatty when they returned from their spa day. It seemed the rest and relaxation had done them both quite well and now they had some additional information to boot, a line on a criminal sitting on a small fortune just waiting to be found out.

The 'technicians' show up on time.

About ten minutes after they leave, a credit shows up on Tia's docking charges of 896 creds.  Your cut comes to 288,000 creds.  The rest you'll need to drop off at that bar in the Jone star town Banks gave you.

There's an obit for Clesing Dremeond in the Jone Public Files.  Or rather a notice of execution.  Seems ol' Clesing was running an illegal trade port in the Hanna Why.  That is, a smuggling base.

The news reports don't give much information on where his trade port was.

Supposition:  This Vil probably knew where his Uncle's base was.  If Clesing was executed, then from what I can tell from available resources on Jone Claim Law, this 'ICUC' would have been granted jurisdiction over it.

But from what I can tell, the ICUC is more or less a racket.  Besides taking bribes for verdicts, it also likes to daisy chain the claims.

They'll trump up charges on a miner or a company and prosecute them for fraund.  They'll then seize the claim and offer to sell it back to the same company.  The company either forfeits the claim, takes their chances in winning at a foreclosure auction, or packing up and leaving.

I've run through the possibilities.  There are two approaches to learning the whereabouts of the base.

First, plug me into the ICUC mainframe.  It's not something we can do from here.  Already tried.  It's a closed end system.  I'll have to be patched into one of their access port nodes.  From what I can tell, the only place to do that is in the ICUC Building on Jone.

Second, you could try to track down the information from an old smuggler still in the area.  I can review police reports to try to come up with a name.  Or maybe Silver knows someone who knows someone.

I did some estimates based on the cases attributed to this 'Vil'.  In terms of payout, the amount up from grabs could range as high as 1.4 million credits or as low as 347,000 credits.  It all depends on how fast Vil burns through money and who else might have knowledge of his cache's location.

Based on available data, the risk of this being a snipe hunt is 14%.

Fritz seems to have a knack for analyzing criminal plans.

Ledo rubbed his chin. That was a lot of credits up for grabs and it was basically a victimless crime. Basically.

"I know you're anxious to stretch your legs, Fritz, but we're still too close to Karin. If whoever made you is looking for you I don't want to leave a digital trail right back to the Tia. Silver, why don't you check the local directory and see if any names pop up. Fritz if you can run some analysis, discretely, then do so. If Silver doesn't have any ties to the area perhaps we can make some."