Day 299, Sunday. City: Yellow Bacon, Planet: Neon Pig. Night.
Medusa instructed Jannisett, "Go tell your friend downstairs. Then go on down to the 25th floor and tell your friends there. I'll meet you on the floor below."
Meanwhile, Art moved over to Eddie and Banker who was muttering, "This sucks. This sucks hard." Art spoke quietly and carefully, "Shepherd warns... He is outside... Knows we all die when Jannisett comes...Plan is to kill us after Jannisett leaves. Floor below... weapons. Find way to go ... floor below." Banker tried to cover his shock at this news by recoiling, "Get away, you alien freak!" Eddie, too, turned away and wandered over to Rabbi. Medusa's gang members were spread around the periphery of the room.
As Jannisett descended the stairs, Jamie heard Shepherd over her chip, "As soon as Jannisett leaves, the gunslinger will kill you. However, I have a plan. It'll happen while Jannisett can help. Don't you guys send - they can pick it up."
Jannisett glanced at the gunslinger and a crease appeared between her eyebrows. He was no longer negligently posed against a wall but, rather, had assumed a ready stance. Her mouth tightened as she recalled Medusa's threat to her friends and she moved to place herself between the man and the brunette. Before her face could unfurrow and she could explain her bargain, Jamie spoke scornfully, "You've made a bad deal, Jannisett. This guy will shoot me as soon as you leave."
Taking a more ready stance, Jannisett looked at the gunslinger and said, "No, I am going to take you down to the others and tell them my agreement."
Jamie smiled gleefully and wiggled her fingers at the glowering guard. He started to go for his guns as white noise hissed over all the Bad Guys' chips. [Art's doing.] Almost at that moment something crashed through the window: Shepherd, laser gun in one hand and activated grenade in the other. The grenade went off [stunning Shepherd's hand] as Shepherd shot the gunslinger [10,30] . Pre-warned, Jamie had closed her eyes at the crash, but Jannisett found herself blinded and deafened by the explosion. Relying on her combat sense alone, she charged across the room in the direction of the gunslinger, slamming into him [27,9] and ending up prone on top of him.
Jamie over her chip to Shepherd: "Are you ok?"
Shepherd: "Um. OK. I can't hear. Watch for Medusa coming down stairs. I'm going to rig an explosive for her."
Banker headed for the two elevator guards, one of whom drew a gun and shot the pilot in the shoulder [7,21] . Banker, in turn, threw a grav ball, hitting his attacker in the chest [30,5] .
The other two Vandals each moved on groups of two bad guys. V#1 hit one opponent solidly for little damage. V#2 took a slug in the thigh but it seemed to bounce off and he returned the favour more bluntly by kicking an opponent in the knee [30] .
V#1 swept with his weapon, downing one man and injuring the other who pulled a gun and shot him. The valiant Vandal fell. V#2 damaged his opponent again. Rabbi raced across the room and slammed into the last unengaged Bad Guy who hit him in the shoulder [5, 15] .
The last Bad Guy ran for the stairs, getting past V#2's attempt at interception, and escaping down.
Art shook his head slowly to clear it.
Eddie grinned, but the problem proved somewhat time-intensive. Both the Bad Guys and Shepherd had wired the elevator, but the significant factor was a wire leading up the shaft.
Shepherd flew up and examined the trap. "Contact with this will blow up most of the 29th floor."
Eddie shook his head, "I don't want to be in the shaft when it's disconnected."
Shepherd flew back out the window and up. Shortly he returned with Jamie who, with Banker, did paramedics on the downed Vandal.
Rabbi's phone rang. He said to the group, "The guys want to know if we should let the vans leave." [They'd started to move out after hearing Medusa was dead.]
Jamie: "You have a better idea than we do the cost of that. It's up to you."
Eddie: "Can you tell them if they leave now we will let them live?"
Shepherd adjusted his communication frequencies to that of the Bad Guys, telling them: "Everyone else up here is dead. Put down your weapons and surrender to the guys outside this building and all will be ok."
A Bad Guy replied, "We surrender" as they hunkered down on the first floor, aiming at elevator and stairs.
Shepherd observed this through his relays and reported to the group on the 25th floor: "That didn't work. They're not surrendering."
Eddie: "Is there another way out?"
Shepherd: "Unless you know how to mountain climb - rappel - I guess not." He'd placed a half dozen high tension lines down from the top of the building.
After some discussion, the group moved down to the 3rd floor and used the lines. Jannisett went down first and Rabbi volunteered to be anchorman, proving himself able to lift even the massive alien Art. In the dead of night with the vans gone, no one noticed.
Shepherd flew to the roof, retrieving his and Medusa's gang's surveillance equipment to prevent a record of the night's events falling into other hands.
Rabbi's phone rang. "We have a van. We'll use it, but do you need it for your squat little friend?"
Jamie: "We have our truck, but thanks."
Jannisett: "Will you - the Vandals - be alright?"
Jamie: "Will this - tonight - cause you guys a big problem?"
Rabbi: "We'll see. People know we were aligned against Medusa." His big shoulders shrugged, "We'll know more tomorrow."
Shepherd: "It was a male voice I heard giving the orders to kill us - not Medusa's."
Rabbi: "I'll call you if you shouldn't come to the club tomorrow."
Shepherd: "You all head out. Go to [monitor room address], 4th floor, and get my stuff from there. I'll catch up." The flyer headed back to the building and quietly set charges at the 1st floor doors.
Shepherd had set up a safe house on the far side of the city. There the group left most of their weapons. Eddie examined those confiscated from the Bad Guys: 3 pistols and two lasers, all easily concealed, and the two beautiful but bulky revolvers.
Banker and Eddie, reluctant to return to ship life, chose to stay at the safe house. Shepherd suggested that Eddie help him build a "crawling" bug. Jamie gave the engineer Medusa's comm device, noting that its light colouration would suit Jannisett as well as it had the gang leader, if Eddie could adjust the bandwidths to those used by the Sorcerer crew's.
Day 300, Monday. City: Yellow Bacon.
Shepherd monitored the city's communication frequencies, listening for mention of Medusa or murder or the address of last night's events. He found that the night police had found the blown-open doors and the bodies. The morning workmen chattered some about the evident vandalism.
While dancing, Jamie noticed Rabbi grimace momentarily. She pressed him for an explanation, "Were you hurt in our fight? You did not tell us."
The big man smiled deprecatingly, "It's a tradition in the Vandals that the leader takes a scar when one of his men does. It'll be ok."
Jamie: "And your friend? Did you take him to a doctor?"
Rabbi: "It looked like you did a real good job. He didn't want to go to a doctor. It was a high profile action.... There'll be some checking. There was some blood left there so there's some chance a scrutiny will link us, but he's pretty well hidden now."
The group partied well into the night.
Shepherd noted that the Warburtons had put the new arrival under normal surveillance.
Once Jamie had been contacted, she had Shepherd patch into the ranger ship's com, startling James Grey with the unexpected intrusion. "Our ship is docked three berths over from yours. We've been here 10 days. It's been exciting." They arranged a meeting at an all-night eatery. Shepherd practiced shadowing Grey, noticing that he still had obvious armor, pistols and long arms even after stopping at the Warburton checkpoint.
The other groups from the Sorcerer's crew converged on the eatery, attempting to be inconspicuous. (Eddie and Shepherd had finished the "Radio Flyer" for Art, so even the slow-paced alien attended.) Jamie and Jannisett were the last to arrive; they slipped into the booth as Grey was finishing his pancakes. Jamie pointed out Shepherd as a new member of the crew and explained the incidents with Medusa.
Grey: "Never heard of her. Bad things happen to bad people."
Jamie: "It doesn't matter. I just wanted you to know in case it did affect you."
The group decided further conversation would be more private aboard the Sorcerer. Gray explained that he had tried to decipher the additional code that his brother had left as the co-ordinates for Jannisett's planet of origin and gave the numbers. Shepherd touched Art mentally: < He is not giving correct information. I don't know if it's deliberate. >
Art: < What's in the false location? >
Shepherd: < Good question. >
Leaving the rest to continue talking with the Scorpion, Shepherd took his new laptop out to the port to gain an 'net hook up. There he found no worthwhile information about the suspect system.
Shepherd: < The system he wants to take us to is 25% out of the way. >
Art: < Eddie doesn't like to waste precious energy. He won't be happy. >
Meanwhile the group discussed how long they could afford to recharge the ship from this berth. Eddie plotted the projected course. Jannisett remained in the background, still, quiet, attention almost always on James Grey.
Shepherd chipped in: "I'm going to ask James a lot of questions. He's either lying or mistaken."
Jamie: "Why do you say that?"
Shepherd: "I believe I have better information."
Jamie, suspiciously: "How did you get a set of co-ordinates?"
Shepherd: "For now, just go with me on this."
The sub-vocalization required to use chip communication is not undetectable close up, although it cannot be heard by those not on the frequency. By the time this exchange was completed, James Grey was looking from Shepherd to Jamie with a slight frown. Shepherd addressed him: "What makes you think this is the correct coordinate?"
Grey: "The coded number could be interpreted a half dozen possible ways. Of those, three were systems I knew. That one is so far out as to be the middle of nowhere; even the Rangers are not likely to have gone there. Which left these two. I simply believe this one is the more likely choice." The relief in the minds of the chipped crew was almost tangible; Grey hadn't tried to deceive them.
During the discussion, it became clear that Grey did not know that Jannisett had described the relative gravity of her native world. Using that bit of data, Shepherd eventually convinced the other that, in fact, the system in the 'middle of nowhere' was the appropriate choice.
Eddie recalculated, working out the energy cost for that Jump to be 2%.
The group decided to spend another two weeks while Art refueled the ship. Grey agreed that that would give him time to contact his friends about a later sortie. As the Sorcerer had proved herself so fast and sensor-capable, the Scorpion would ship aboard the Sorcerer for the initial surveillance run over the Slaver Planet.
Sometime during the discussions, Shepherd managed to plant a bug on Grey; the trained bodyguard noticed. Finding an opportunity to follow Grey into a moment of privacy, Jannisett whispered, "James Grey, Shepherd has placed a tracer on your person - here." He looked at her, his face unreadable, and then gave her a slight nod.
Day 301, Tuesday.
Having decided to leave for the Other City, James Grey suggested that someone follow him to the outskirts of Yellow Bacon to make sure that he was not followed by some other enemy. Art had continued to lobby for samples of local flora and fauna so Jamie suggested that several of the party accommodate the alien by fetching him back said samples via the truck. If necessary, then, the truck party would be available if Grey had trouble in the vicinity of the city. The fact that there would be two checkpoints that Grey would have to pass within the city meant nothing to a truck that could fly.
Jannisett lifted her chin and said, "I will be your bodyguard. I can follow and see you stay unharmed."
Grey paused, "Do you have any skills for following through a city and staying unseen by other followers?"
The blue girl shook her head 'no'.
"Then," Grey continued gently, "I don't think you're the person for this job, darlin'."
Jannisett turned away as Shepherd eyed her, having developed his own thoughts about her feelings for James Grey. He spoke, "I can do it."
Grey nodded, knowing that was as he intended. He still hadn't decided whether or no he would carry out his urge to punish Shepherd for the tracer once they were both in the countryside.
Jannisett gave Grey her pocket communicator so that he could stay on the Sorcerer's frequency.
The group let Grey know their intentions.
Grey: "There're only three of them. It's not necessary."
Jamie: "We're coming just in case."
Grey warned: "If you plan on staying in this city two weeks, you don't want to be that closely associated with me."
Shepherd was able to give a full description of the Big Man. Grey's voice turned cautionary, "You should peel off now! It's going to get ugly. This is a very dangerous man! Those two bitty guns you use... Don't shoot at him with them." As Shepherd tried to protest, Gray said, "You're not from around here, but - ever heard of Apocalypse Smith?"
Eddie and Jamie looked at each other. Apocalypse Smith was something of a legend, part-time bad guy, part-time bounty hunter, all bad news.
Shepherd continued with his descriptions, including the truck. "I might be able to take out a wheel," he suggested.
Grey's voice might have had a touch of a smile, "That's my plan. It's best if we don't have a confrontation.."
And so it worked.
Day 302, Tuesday.
After 12 hours, Shepherd concluded that the bug he had put on Grey was not operating.
Day 303, Thursday.
Roks said his farewells before boarding the ship on which he'd bought passage. Jannisett shook hands with him very gently. "I will miss you," she whispered.
Shepherd mentally touched Art: < Tell me about Jannisett. How is she blue? Was she born that way? >
Art: < Born is a complicated concept where Jannisett is concerned. It is simpler to say that she was created, not born. >
Day 306, Sunday.
Jannisett approached Shepherd at a time when the group had collected together. "I wish to find Apocalypse Smith and have not the skills. Will you help me?"
Banker immediately divined the blue girl's intent, "Jannisett, are you intending to kill Apocalypse Smith?"
Jannisett: "Yes."
The group immediately jumped in to dissuade her. Gradually they determined that she felt that,
The girl still seemed puzzled when she asked, "What is the difference between Medusa and Apocalypse Smith? Banker argued that I should avoid Medusa while Jamie and Eddie said that I should meet with her. Now Jamie and Eddie agree with Banker that I should avoid Apocalypse Smith. I know that Apocalypse Smith is bad; I did not know that Medusa was bad until she threatened my friends. What is the difference?"
No one seemed able to explain the difference between the bad guys. Jamie suggested that the difference in advice given was due to the fact that Medusa had directly threatened Jannisett whereas Apocalypse Smith did not yet know her. Eddie pointed out that even Smith's trailing of Grey might have been the opportunistic action of a bounty hunter and not a continuing threat.
Jannisett: "Apocalypse Smith is a very bad man and he must be taken down. But I understand that that should wait for later."
Eddie muttered to himself: "I notice that she did not say she would wait."
Nonetheless, there were no unexplained absences involving the blue girl.
Day 307, Monday.
Jamie returned to the question that had been asked several times: How had Shepherd known the true co-ordinates of the Slaver Planet system? Reluctantly Shepherd explained that he had seen it through a computer in Jannisett's mind, that he seemed able to talk to computers, even through time and space as long as someone near him had been near that computer. A few days later, however, he admitted that he couldn't really remember; things simply flashed into his mind.
Day 315, Monday.
Many samples had been gathered and turned over to Art who had, meantime, spent nearly half his time (and little of his own mass) recharging the ship.
The Sorcerer lifted off and then, hull transparent to detection, returned and picked Grey up a day or so outside of Yellow Bacon. Afterwards, safely beyond the planet, she made the Jump to outside the Slaver Planet system.
Day 319, Friday. Slaver Planet System.
The crew of the Sorcerer trained their sensors on Jannisett's native planet. In some shock, Jamie reported:
Staring at the display, Jannisett wrapped her arms around herself and sank into unresponsive silence. The comments of the others hid the native's reaction.
Eddie: "The Imperials were here."
Jamie: "The Empire must have learned of the conditions on this planet and moved to rectify it. Surely they moved the people - who had committed no crime."
Shepherd: "But if the Empire didn't want what they learned here to get out - slavery and genetic manipulation - why not destroy every trace?"
Jamie: "There's one similar case I know about which proved that the Emperor himself despises slavery."
Shepherd, with a bemused look: "Of course. That's right. He doesn't like slavery."
Jamie looked at him curiously but continued, "He made sure the guilty corporation was thoroughly punished. He may have taken a personal interest in this case as well and wiped out the corporations holdings here as punishment. Or," she paused momentarily, "the Empire may have seen the genetic modifications here as TOO radical."
Eddie glanced at Jannisett worriedly: "Perhaps the corporation burned off the planet to prevent discovery by the Empire."
Banker: "We're pretty sure the Empire has the technology to do it, but has any corporation ever displayed technology at this level?"
Jamie: "Displayed? I don't know. But certainly the corporations that produce weapons for the Imperial Military could do it."
Shepherd: "Someone was here before the Empire. They may have helped with the evacuation. We know the Rangers were here."
Jamie turned to Jannisett brightly: "Your Owners have suffered a punitive punishment greater than what we could ever do."
Eddie: "But where are Jannisett's people and how do we find them?"
Shepherd: "I could find out if I could get near an Imp computer."
Jamie continued to try to reach the blue girl: "People who hate slavery do so because they view the victims as people. It seems unlikely that they would punish the victims."
Eddie: "What would it take to evacuate a planetful of people? Were there millions?"
Jannisett replied tonelessly: "There were 12 clan heads, 12 clans. Marr was the smallest of those. There were no more than 10,000 people."
Banker: "We gotta remember that whole other galaxy was emptied. We can only hope it was evacuated."
Jamie: "If we go to a university branch at a Hub station near the edge of the Core, I can get information. We have the family name of that Herder on the Island Planet; learning something about his ancestor, the duke who was transported to the Island Planet, may give us a clue."
Shepherd turned to Jannisett: "Now you have two new goals - find out what happened and why."
Jamie: "We have to get to my corporate contacts. They'd have news about current events."
Shepherd: "It could be dangerous asking about a missing corporation. Do we want to know about this?"
Jamie: "It's possible that every single important person in the Core knows about this, but we won't know out here on the Rim."
Shepherd: "When they burned Jannisett's planet, why didn't they shut down the nearest StarGate or move it?"
Eddie: "We don't know who did it. We only know that the Imps could."
Banker: "Is the Empire capable of moving or changing StarGates?"
Jannisett spoke at last: "We also know that the StarGates in the Other Galaxy went away."
Jamie: "But over how long a period of time? We don't know."
Jannisett stood close to Art. "This changes so much," she murmured. "Can my people survive, Art? I mean, the Owners changed us, didn't they?"
Art: "What do you mean?"
Jannisett took a deep breath: "Like the biomatrix. Like ... like... Art, can you tell? You studied me. Can I 'have a baby'?"
Art: "Everything is available for the process. There is no way to know if you can fulfil the term. Do you wish to embark on the experiment?"
Jannisett, with apparent relief: "So we don't have to use the biomatrix. We .. just have to learn .. how." She turned back to the alien. "But they did other things. We grow up - faster. Am .. am I aging faster than these others?" She gestured at the rest of the crew.
Art: "No. You parameters were advanced at birth. That does not affect you now.
Jannisett: "So we are mature at 11. But -" she gestured again. "How long will they live? Will I live as long?"
Art: "No."
Jannisett murmured to herself: "Only the Trainer was old. He was 30, I think. I didn't know anyone else who was older than 20. I am - almost 20."
Art got the others talking about age on their planets. Jamie had an uncle who was 300 years old, having used all available treatments. Her family did not approve and he had been ostracized. Usually the corporation did not want officers keeping power after about 150. Eddie knew that on his planet, if you survived to adulthood, you tended to live rather a long time. Survivor-types did. But very few survived. Jamie summed it up, "The more money you have, the longer you can live."
Jannisett seemed to have retreated into herself again, keeping very close to Art.
Jamie suggested that Jannisett consider asking Art to change her skin colour to something more 'normal', more human. Banker objected, saying that he'd seen a great deal of skin-tinting in his time. Shepherd questioned the Core's apparent bias against non-pure humans. He ended by deciding that checking the Hub computer's records of human history might reveal some long-forgotten conflict of which the bias was a legacy.
Jannisett took some time to explain to James Grey about the Other Galaxy. He was at first unwilling to believe that such a tall tale had any relation to the search for his uncle. The blue girl patiently explained about the shiny planet and the Island Planet. Grey seemed either more subdued or more reconciled to the Party's "wild talk" after that.
The Slaver Planet's star was class 9. It was decided to stay in system for another two weeks to allow Art to recharge the ship and for the others to explore the system via sensors for clues and remnants.
Day 333, Friday. Slaver Planet System.
Art had gotten the ship's fuel level up to 17.5%. Eddie calculated that it would take 3.2% to Jump to a Hub that had an University research extension and where Jamie had contacts. Grey commented that that Hub would also have a Ranger station although it might not have any Rangers in residence.
The group discussed plans aforetime.
James Grey took Shepherd aside: "You ought to be careful about what you do to whom, you know. Were I a less peace-loving man, I might have done you a bit of harm back on Neon Pig because of that tracer."
Shepherd: "What tracer?"
Grey: "I wouldn't take that tack if I were you. I'll let you think about it."
Shepherd, hastily, almost apologetic: "You are important to some members of this crew and I wanted to keep tabs on you. That was the only way I could make sure you were safe."
Grey: "It's not always safe to be wearing a tracker broadcasting ones' presence to the world. Asking never hurts."
Shepherd, eagerly: "Will you wear a tracer for me?"
Grey: "To see how good the security here is?" His face twisted ironically, "You wear it. I don't want to attract that much attention to myself."
Shepherd continued to try to justify his actions and the other man eventually turned his palms up and left.
The Sorcerer Jumped.
75-150 space ships hung in the void around the huge Station. Banker read off logo after logo, knowing most of them.
After making dock at the Hub Station, Shepherd disappeared for several hours, wearing his disguise suit. [He only picked up Spacer information.] His notice had fallen on a particular ship in space and his sensors told him it was neither sending nor receiving transmissions.
Jamie checked her mail drop. There was nothing from her family, but, amidst the junk, she found two hand-delivered messages from the friend she most trusted in her old corporation. The first read:
"Don't know what you did, but [section chief killed on Froddleberg] is under fire to find you. He's pulling more juice than he should but I don't know who higher up is behind him. I can't look further without drawing attention to myself."The second read:
"No one seems to care about you anymore. [section chief] has disappeared. Just to be safe, you might not want to come back."
The BE3s decided to throw a celebration in honour of Jamie's return.
At the station the Functionary at the desk clearly knew who Sam was but she would say nothing but, "I will have to clear it with some people before I can talk to you. Come back tomorrow."
Grey rejoined Jannisett and quietly told her, "They won't give me anything right now. You could try the badge, claiming to be a bereaved survivor. But - it might get hairy. I could simply come back tomorrow." Jannisett: "If the badge will get us information sooner, I will use it."
Jannisett presented the badge to the Functionary. "This belonged to my Grey; he left it to me. He would want me to find his Uncle Sam. I really need to know about Sam." The Functionary flustered a little bit and had Jannisett scan the badge and have her picture taken. She keyed in some information.
" .. a blue-skinned, white-haired woman asking about Sam Shepphard."To his consternation, the ship changed its course, heading quickly towards the Hub Station. Its response crackled back:
"Ask them to stay. A representative will be there soon to answer their questions."Shepherd contacted Art mentally. < Someone representing the Empire has taken an interest in Jannisett at the Ranger Station. >
While Shepherd monitored and waited for the Imperial ship to dock, Jamie and Art headed back to the ship. The brunette chipped in another line: "Eddie, we have a problem. Is Banker sober?"
Eddie: "Yeah. We haven't hit the bars yet. Still shopping."
Jamie: "It's entirely possible that we're going to have to lift off very quickly."
Eddie complained: "Oh, maaaan."
( EPs: 1, total: 6, save for Jannisett and Jamie: 0, total 5; Art: 1, total 5)
Next Run: Captured by the Empire?
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