Ships passing in the night | A Tale from the Borderlands

Published by

Jason St-Cyr

on

Tags: , ,

Meeting the doctor

New-U Investigation log, Day Three. Something real stupid is about to happen.

I’m taking a short break to think this through before the crew starts their entry. I don’t like our options, but we’re running out of them. Right now, the front door seems like the only reasonable entry point. I REALLY don’t like front doors. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

Last night Doc Rivers showed up at the bar, as planned. Not dressed like any doctor I’ve visited, that’s for sure. Guess she thought this would be less conspicuous, but I’m not sure that worked. Whatever it was that Cicero said to her, though, got her very agreeable to his ideas. That old-timer could charm a rakk off a cliff-side!

Fin did a great job of being Fin and completely distracting the entire place. A dance off competition seems to be just the sort of thing that gets folks going in Laroche, because according to the bartender this place hasn’t been crazy like that in a long while. Penny and I kept an eye on the doors and scanned the crowd to keep eye, and I tried to blend in. Disappearing in this kind of mob of bodies is usually easy enough to pull off, but this Rivers girl must be one paranoid doctor. Not only did she find me in the crowd, she also noticed an undercover JMA agent in a tricorne hat at the bar, which I had not picked up on. They seemed to be listening in, so I made the move to the bar and spent the next short while trying to strike up some small talk… not exactly my strong suit. The point wasn’t to be good at it, though, it was to be annoying and distracting… and it seemed to work well enough for our purposes. 

The doc seemed ready to share what she knew. She’s noticed that even though psychosis is known to  happen, somewhere in the realm of 5% or so, apparently on Junpai 7 the rate is closer to 50%. Now I’m not known for my number skills and mathing, but that don’t seem like a normal increase. To top that, Rivers has been finding brain slugs in the old noggins of those that don’t survive. Sure sounds like what happened to Penny! Hyperion won’t be able to admit it, but somehow the Brain Slug Brigade are hitching rides.

Cicero suggested that perhaps Hyperion was trying to take out a rival guild, but Doc Rivers doesn’t think that tracks. The brand would be tarnished, profits would take a hit. Rivers suggested that perhaps, instead of Hyperion, it was the brain slugs calling the shots. That’s one theory I can get behind, because the motive is there. If those sluggos have been hunted by the kraken for generations upon generations, I could see them wanting to take the opportunity to get the upper hand.

By the end of the night, it seems like Cicero was able to convince the doc to help out with the investigation, so long as it would only be a short time away from the clinic. Although, he did have to promise she could study Fin. I’m not sure if Fin is going to like being studied, but I guess we’re going to find out.

Casing the joint

After a night’s rest, the day was a little more focused. We all made sure to swing by the space port where the Hyperion ship was supposed to be and we were definitely able to spot it. But Min spotted something else: some sort of paramilitary frigate. We learned later that it ain’t supposed to be there.

Cicero’s scan picked up a lot of simultaneous security systems, so this job is not going to be easy. The warehouse blocking access is about 100’ tall, so getting over that is going to be a bit of a challenge. Not impossible, but not exactly the height I want to be at if blasters start firing! There is an open water access, but getting over there without being detected is probably unlikely.

After getting our bearings on the destination, the crew rested and geared up for the evening when Gavin was going to show up. We all agreed it would be better if Gavin didn’t make it to the Siren’s Song, just in case. We split up and tried to intercept him in the alleys, and we’re lucky it was Cicero who found him. I was one of the only ones to hear Cicero’s whistle  and managed to watch Cicero and Gavin interact from a nearby alley corner. I didn’t take any chances that time and stuck to the shadows, like tar on boots, making sure to tag a lock on Orland just in case he made a run for it. I was a wee bit surprised when Zoe suddenly showed up out of nowhere, but I made sure not to reveal myself.

Orland seemed genuinely surprised by the arrival of another Hyperion ship, apparently registered to a certain captain we have run into before who we last saw shooting our tail end while we headed for hyperspace.

While Cicero and Gavin spoke, Orland tried to suggest that we not even bother with going after the ship. But, for 500K in credits and Cicero’s assurances of the skill of our crew, the plan is a go.

Orland doesn’t think we can all get in together as one big group, so has suggested we only bring two others in so as to avoid raising suspicions. Cicero was the obvious choice, though I’m concerned the Hyperion security might spot him. Zoe will bring her tech chops along for the ride, and hopefully can disable some of the security systems on the way so the rest of us can get in.

Personally, I think the rest of us should go for a more stealth approach, take some guards out from a distance, and then have Penny, Min, Fin, and I slip in quietly. But Fin wants to bash down the front-door. Not entirely surprising! Ultimately, it will be Min’s call, but I do not have any desire to get in close combat with a bunch of trained Hyperion security and whatever soldiers came down in that frigate. There has got to be a way that doesn’t end in us being spotted on a bunch of security cameras or worse, dead. Maybe Zoe can shut down some of the cameras or defenses so we can find a way in.

This might hurt.

Image credit:

Leave a comment

Previous Post
Next Post

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com