Hunter -- Logs

The trip to Demeter is without incident, and the ship is rather warmly welcomed -- if a touch wryly -- by Demeter's local space traffic control. The Harvestfall Docks are as lively as any Border Moon's, though as the ship lands a pair of sheriff's deputies from Demeter's law compliance office are waiting, holding down their hats in the wind kicked up by the ship's jets. Elgyn looks at Solbiort. "Think they're just waiting for us about the shuttle?"

Solbiort says, "Hope so." She grins ruefully, rising and heading off the bridge, "Vell, let's find out, ya?" A moment later she opens the airlock and waves, "Nihao! Vhat ve can do for you?"

One of the deputies bows politely; the other tips her hat. "Nihao, Captain," the shorter, hat-tipping one drawls. "Welcome back to Demeter." She grins. "You seem to have left behind something."

Solbiort laughs, striding over, "So ve have, ya. Can ve pick it back up now?" Elgyn makes an amused snort. Sure, if having it stolen out from under us... well, then again, the ship wasn't strictly ours by that point... He's suddenly glad he didn't speak those thoughts aloud.

The deputy nods. "We have it in the impound yard, been keeping it in reasonably good shape before you got back."

Solbiort says, "Good to hear. You ever find out anything about missing doctor und pirate captain?" Elgyn perks up at this point, and glances at Raj to see if he's listening.

Raj says, "We've not heard a thing since the pirates took Doctor Kingston and the shuttle."

The deputy purses her lips. "Nothing regarding that name, no. But we've been keeping track of departures from the world. We're pretty sure if they were trying to leave we'd have spotted 'em."

Solbiort says, "Very strange. Vould haf been two men -- von elderly und unable to valk -- and a voman." Elgyn scratches his chin for a moment, absently pondering... well, perhaps it's not the best idea, with would-be assassins on their trail. Still, loose ends make his palms itch. He wants to bloody Gorman's nose in particular.

Raj says, "They may have had accomplices here. Any word of a ransom demand?"

The deputy shakes her head. "No, an' that's the strange thing. We heard nothing about this near-crippled professor-type -- no ransom, no demands, no nothing. Just tracked the shuttle to the edge of the badlands, and that's it."

Solbiort looks puzzled... then shrugs, "Nothing tracked from it either?"

The deputy says, "We found tracks, none leading out to the badlands from the shuttle -- so we're pretty certain they made their way to the Docks."

Raj says, "So without a ransom demand, are you presuming Doctor Kingston is dead?"

The deputy lets out a breath. "We've listed him as 'missing' but not dead. Believe me, it's pissing us off all to hellanback. It's something we shouldn't have this much trouble ferreting out."

Raj nods, "I'm sure you're doing your best. I'm also sure the Logisium and the Exodus Archives would really like to know what's happened. If you do find something out, please do let me know."

Solbiort hms thoughtfully... then smiles and shrugs again, "Vell, as long as shuttle is clean, not vorried. You have gone over it already for contraband or other problems?"

The deputy nods to Solbiort. "Already have, yes. They tried to strip it of any useful gear before leaving it, but it looks like they barely got what was on their backs."

Solbiort nods, "Good, then should still fly. Can ve pick it up now? Vill have our engineer go over it as vell, am thinking." She adds to Raj, "Vant to see if you can find some cargo here?"

Raj shrugs, "That's my job. I'll start poking around as soon as we've had a chance to inspect the shuttle."

Elgyn nods sharply. "I'd like to go over it as well. I'm not trained law enforcement, but I do have an eye for detail."

Solbiort says, "Sheh-sheh, Raj, Elgyn." She turns to the deputies, "Sheh-sheh to your people also, ya?"

The deputy nods again. "Surely. You're welcome to look over it afore flyin' it back to your ship." The deputies lead the crew to the shuttle, and they proceed to go over it with a fine-toothed comb. Nothing untoward appears to be present; no unwanted surprises and nothing that goes boom in the night. Solbiort flies the shuttle back to the ship, docking it safely with a great deal of satisfaction. Now the little ship is complete.

As Solbiort brings the shuttle in to dock with the ship, Raj is at a nearby terminal, starting to scare up potential cargoes bound for Persephone that are in need of transport. Nigel, for his part, is monitoring the docking from within the ship's hangar deck. Elgyn is perched in the bridge, keeping a general eye on the operation of docking. Molly is taking stock of provisions; as she roams the upper deck, Elgyn hears her muttering to herself just before she ransacks the galley, looking for what to stock up on. "Blasted swai-boi... I'll show him I can learn to cook as good as he can..." Her grumbling continues.

Elgyn stifles a laugh at Molly's comments, as it wouldn't be polite. "It's not a competition, Molly... although I'd agree that it would be best to learn for the sake of our Captain," he calls out.

Molly calls back, "My gorram berth on this boat's at stake, Elgyn! If I make one more Claymore casserole, I'll be out of here and the Prof will be on the next flight out of Boros! I know it!"

Solbiort can be heard happily singing in a foreign tongue as she docks the little shuttle, then comes striding through the Chimera for the Bridge. She cheerfully greets Elgyn, "Hoya, di-di! Vhat's up? Everyzing goot to go so far?"

Elgyn smiles at Solbiort. "So far," he agrees. "Molly's about two, three days away from unspooling, though..."

Solbiort looks a bit confused, "Ah... really?" She considers, then grins perplexedly, "Is that goot?"

Elgyn barks a laugh. "It's a little amusing to watch, but maybe I should go give her some moral support... she's afraid Kali might give up his cushy job to take her place as ship's cook..."

Solbiort snorts amusedly... then looks a little wistful, "Don't think he'll be giving up university job any time soon, true, but I do vish he'd had a bit more time to teach her cooking." Curiously she adds, "Vhat Molly-girl need moral support for, though? Oh!" She grins wickedly, "Molly vishes to tumble him or somezing?"

Elgyn blushes. "Captain!" he protests. "No, I just meant... about the cooking."

Solbiort tilts her head curiously, "She vish him to cook for her, or you just vish to support her vhile cooking? Think I am missing something here, di-di?"

Elgyn says, "The latter, Captain -- although perhaps I am not the best to provide that support. It seems to be that I just have a much greater digestive and taste tolerance..."

As the shuttle lands, Raj is starting to make some headway with the local cargo brokers. He's just ending a call to one broker, though, when he sees a figure attempt to enter the dock discreetly -- "discreetly" in that they crumple out of the shadows into a pile on the ground about five yards from him. Raj jumps out of his chair and rushes over to the "intruder," slapping the intercom in passing and shouting, "Company!"

Solbiort rolls her eyes, "Bright Lady, vill not argue vith you on that von! Just goes to show boys make the best coo-" She's cut off by the yell, whirling automatically to scan the boards for information. Her quick scan doesn't seem to indicate any sort of attack going on, though -- the external cameras show only Raj by the collapsed person. She comms, "Nigel, outside to Raj, please -- medical situation." Then she nods to Elgyn, "You haf bridge, di-di," as she turns and darts out the hatchway to cover Raj. Elgyn nods curtly as the captain exits, and peers at the camera feed, keeping an eye on them, curious and tense.

Nigel hits the comm, "All right, all right. Don't get your britches in a wad." A moment or two later he's following after Raj, medkit in hand.

The figure is female, somewhat athletic though definitely having seen better days. A few old and poorly healed wounds can be seen through holes in the vest. She appears to be alive, if breathing shallowly. Raj also looks past the woman collapsed on the ground, scanning for others "visitors." After a tense moment, and seeing no one else, he briefly examines the woman. "Well, you're breathing, that's a good sign."

Solbiort snorts amusedly at Nigel as he arrives, from her position as cover, "So, you ever not have last vord, di-di Nigel?"

The wounds aren't bleeding, but it looks like there were other sorts of grievous trauma done. There are some significant burns along the arms which, while mostly healed, have left damaging scars and haven't healed well. Nigel smirks at the captain even as he begins his examination, "Not if I can help it." He focuses on the damage and mutters under his breath as he checks vitals. Solbiort chuckles quietly, continuing to scan for anyone else approaching. The berth is otherwise unoccupied, with no sign of attackers or intruders or the press. She doesn't hurry them, then, since there's apparently no need to move the injured immediately. The woman makes no sound to Nigel; she appears to have strenuously exerted herself in getting to here, and the common spacer's vest is in shambles and severely damaged.

When Nigel arrives, Raj says, "I'll check the area. Keep your head down 'till I get back," and moves off quietly, his gun held low along his thigh.

Molly, with her cambered revolver, takes station beside the hatchway, looking outside and making it a point to look for snipers or where people might come in unannounced. Her gaze falls on the woman, and a moment later her voice is coming over the com. "Ai ya... holy crap, Captain, that's Elsa Saladin! Gorman's lieutenant!"

Solbiort blinks at Molly, then turns and looks with much less friendliness at the fallen woman, "Truly? Bah... vhat bad luck."

Nigel blinks slightly and snorts, "This is the one that the pretty-boy Shepherd waylaid?"

Solbiort nods to Nigel, her voice cool, "Somezing like that. Think she clocked him from behind. If she fights you, hurt her." She calls to Molly, "Vasn't she doc?" Then she comms to Raj, "Raj, voman here is Gorman's lieutenant. Be vary." Finally she sighs and says to Nigel, "You vant her aboard or no?"

Molly's grimace is audible. "I think so, Captain. 'Doctor' kind of covers some of her duties. She was also Gorman's master-at-arms -- basically his torpedo."

Solbiort mutters, "Vunderbahr." She revises her previous comment, "Nigel, can ve send her to local hospital?"

Nigel mutters under his breath, "Yeah. Please. I don't think I want her on board very long. If at all."

Solbiort grins ruefully at Nigel, nodding once, "Goot." She comms Elgyn, "Hoya, di-di... see if you can get connection to local hospital for pickup?"

Raj returns from his sweep of the berth, "Nothing out of the ordinary," and looks down at the injured woman. "Gorman's knee-breaker, huh? She'd have to be pretty desperate or confused to come here." Elsa, in the meantime, seems to be coming around. Solbiort nods a bit grimly to Raj, then drops to one knee next to Elsa, patting her down. The last thing she needs is her doctor or some other crewmember being held hostage by this jerk.

Up in the cockpit, Elgyn muses on the recent revelation. When Solbiort calls, he hits the reply button. "Affirmative, Captain. Trying now." But even as he fiddles with the radio, he's flipping through the other cameras, trying to see if anyone is trying to sneak in the back way...

Solbiort studies the wounds as she does so. A moment later she says slowly, "Nigel, di-di... vounds like these... could they be due to torture?" She finds no weapons on Elsa, though she finds an interesting selection of holsters and sheathes. All are empty.

Nigel sits back on his heels and shakes his head thoughtfully, "It's more like they were trying to kill her. Like someone kicked the gorram shite out of her, then had some target practice and figured she'd kick off."

Solbiort rises, her autolock visible but out of grabbing reach for when Elsa opens her eyes. "Hokay, sheh-sheh, di-di."

Raj says, "Well, that doesn't sound like sniper friends. They'd have made sure."

Solbiort nods to Raj without looking away from the injured woman. She steps back a bit, murmuring, "Di-di Nigel, might vant to move out of arm's reach?" Then she nudges the woman with one booted toe, "Saladin. Vake up."

Nigel whacks the captain's foot, "Gorramit. I don't want her on board, but she's beat all to hell."

The woman grunts a little, half reaching up with a burned arm to wave away or intercept the kick. "Ngh... am... am up..."

Solbiort gives Nigel a curious glance, then smiles at his ferocity over patients. She turns her gaze back to the woman, "Hokay, you're up. Vhat you doing here? Vhat you vant?"

Elsa opens her eyes -- or at least manages to open one. Her smile is a touch mirthless and very weak. "G-good... you're still a... nrgh." She winces, the smile disappearing. "They... they got Gorman. Figured... I figured you still had the General, hadn't turned him in, else... else woulda been all over the 'Cortex. Figured... you were Wintarsen's last... hope...." Solbiort waits silently, watching and listening. Her expression hasn't warmed in the least. Nigel stands up after doing just enough for the woman to keep her from feeling too much pain, and backs up.

Elsa coughs, the sound far too dry to Nigel's medical ears. "We did it... did it for..." Her eye wells up with a tear, and she covers it with her hand, scowling. "Bastards... gorram hundan, they... they were the ones, they... they had our superiors... dancing... like puppets. One big gorram orchestra...."

Nigel frowns at the cough, rubbing his chin, "Can we get her inside? Maybe in one of the spare cabins?"

Solbiort comms quietly, so the wounded woman doesn't hear and isn't interrupted, "Elgyn, hold on hospital call." This is actually a relief for Elgyn, who is realizing he's never had to radio anyone that's not Solbiort, and therefore was having a hard time remembering how to get the local medical frequency. Solbiort sighs and nods to Nigel, "Ya. Don't vant huge blood mark on floor to alert attackers." She stoops, taking the woman's chin in her hand so they're looking at each other, "Saladin, listen careful, ya? Am helping you because my doctor is vorried about you, und I vant him to be happy. But could be persuaded real easy you are liability, ya? So you behave very, very nicely, and ve all be happy. You got that?"

Elsa collapses in on herself. "Ain't got long... but ya, will behave. Have to... had to at least tell someone this... saw Feng Wu comin' in for landin'... knew... had to... tell...." She starts to slip into unconsciousness.

Solbiort nods, then comms, "Molly, prep a cabin for Saladin." She looks up, "Raj, can you make sure no tell-tale blood stains?" then at Nigel, "Hokay. Can I carry her, or vill she break if I pick her up?"

Nigel shakes his head, "We need the stretcher. She's got bones out of place..."

Solbiort nods, "All right. Moment, I get it."

Raj already has the bucket, sand, and soap in hand. "Yeah, I can do that. I'd like to suggest we change the ship's name to 'Dreamland' or 'Free Healz' or something more in line with our growing passenger list, though." Solbiort shoots him a dire (but amused) look and he turns away, saying, "It was just a thought..."

Solbiort returns in a moment, laying the stretcher next to the unconscious woman, "Hokay, ready vhen you are, di-di Nigel."

Nigel nods and crouches by her feet, "Count of three... One. Two... three..." On "three" he lifts his end of the fallen pirate, trusting Solbiort to get her part of the burden.

Solbiort easily moves the woman, supporting the shoulders and head the way she was taught in officer's training. She'll follow Nigel's lead on this, since medical care is emphatically not her specialty. She murmurs quietly as they're carting in the stretcher, "Di-di Nigel... she truly about to die, or just worn out from vounds like Molly vas originally?" He lets Solbiort know Elsa's wounds look pretty terminal, hospital or not; it'll be touch-and-go. Nigel looks none too pleased about this, either.

It doesn't take long to move Elsa to a cabin aboard ship, and to ensure that the cabin can be locked from the outside. Solbiort sighs, dusting her hands off. "Hokay, got another sick pup to care for. Not sure this von is going to stick around much, though -- got no trust from us." She considers, then nods once, "All right, sooner off this planet, the better. I'll go see if I can aid Raj. Everyvon else as you vere, please." She shakes her head, then assigns Molly to guard Elsa, and be cover for Nigel any time he's in the room. Then she heads off to see if she can help Raj with gaining another cargo. She figures Elsa will live or die regardless of how Soli feels. Either way, it's in Nigel's hands, and he's not known for shyness if he wants assistance. Until he yells for her, Solbiort will stay out of his way.

After making sure the ship is secure, Elgyn joins Molly and Nigel... partly to see if Nigel could use another hand, partly out of curiosity for this new 'passenger.' Nigel shakes his head with a disgusted look as he works on Elsa, "You're lucky I'm a nice person, girlie, otherwise I'd have just let the captain leave you out there." The irritation in his voice is in odd contrast to the fact that he's almost gentle with the woman.

Elgyn looks to Molly. "Molly, I'll take over here, you keep watch on the bridge," he says to her after looking over Nigel with his newest patient. Without getting in Nigel's way, Elgyn pays close attention to Elsa's wounds, curious if they tell any story besides the obvious...

Outside, with a bit of local Cortex work, a little legwork, and some messages, and soon Raj has leads on two legitimate cargoes. One is a shipment of curved Higgins Moon ceramic plates meant for a venturi forge installation. The other is a series of fruit tree saplings that have already been cleared by Customs, with all paperwork is in order. Because of the bulk of both cargoes, only one can be taken to Persephone. The saplings pay marginally better, but the ceramic plates will weather the trip much better -- and the payment for the saplings is for every sapling that survives the trip.

Since Solbiort's the only one who can't help with the data gathering for cargos, and Molly's on the bridge, Soli goes and stands watch over the wounded woman. She's curious as to what injuries have been done. Raj catches up with the Captain outside the medbay, "Kind of slim pickings right now on cargo, I'm afraid. I just don't know enough folks yet to really get the skinny. Right now, I've got a lead on a hold full of agriculture with a small bounty for live delivery. We could do that, but I'm' dubious about our gardening skills. The other is industrial ceramics -- which I think suits us better. We should have Nigel check the Cortex to make sure these folks and these cargos are what they seem to be. If they pan out (and I don't see any reason they shouldn't) you and I can get down to brass tacks with them. If Elgyn's free, or Nigel turns up anything odd, we might send Elgyn out and about to see if he gets any hint of what's what. Both cargos are kind of bulky, so we can't really take but one. Which do you want me to follow up on?"

Solbiort snorts amusedly at the phrase 'live delivery.' "Ceramics. Ve aren't precisely the gentlest ride around. Grab Elgyn and Nigel for vhat you need, and let's blow this dock."

Raj nods, "I'll take care of it."

Solbiort says, "Sheh-sheh, Raj."

Elsa's wounds, as checked by Nigel and Elgyn and Solbiort, appear to fall into three categories. First there's the contusions and blunt impact trauma. A lot of bruising, a few broken bones, some internal bleeding which seems to not be healing too well. If she's this bad now, it must have been horrific to see two weeks before. Next are the gunshot wounds, likewise imperfectly healed and only a couple of weeks old. There are four or five such wounds, three being grazes and two in more substantial parts of her torso. Finally there are the burns on her arms; near as Nigel can tell from the scorch marks on her clothing, she was holding her arms in front of her face to protect herself from some hot flames. Without asking her directly it's hard to determine just exactly what happened, though from the amount of punishment she went through it looks like someone pummeled her, shot her, and left her for dead. Buddha only knows how fire comes into the picture.

Solbiort raises an eyebrow at the damage, her respect for the woman's sturdiness and determination raising slightly. Nigel shakes his head over the wounds, "OK, I understand the gunshots and the getting the shit beat out of you, but how the hell did you get burned? Were they throwing Molotov cocktails?"

Solbiort sits quietly next to the wounded woman, wondering the same thing herself. "Some sort of laser rifle, maybe?"

Elgyn scratches his chin. "Seems to me it's more the mark of torture, though I could be wrong."

Solbiort mutters, "Sloppy oaf, then." She considers, then murmurs, "If vas laser, vas cruel vay to use. Military grade prismlocks turn vater in cell tissue into flash steam; makes deep, concentrated, horrible burns all the vay through to bone. Generally they die from shock, though, not hitting something vital. Think this more like regular flames?" She considers again, then adds, "Could possibly defocus laser enough to do, but vould be very non-standard field modification." Elgyn arches an eyebrow, following about half that.

Both Nigel and Elgyn hit their turf at Raj's suggestion: Nigel to the Cortex, Elgyn to the streets. The Cortex comes up clean, despite Nigel's best attempts; he can't seem to get much regarding Corbin Aster, the ceramics shipper. He does determine the receiver, Jiryuko Metalworks, is a legitimate company and is building a venturi furnace.

Elgyn, on the other hand, does get some interesting tidbits. In following Aster that day he manages to track the man entering the local Tong compound under heavy escort -- either as a unwilling guest or a heavily guarded one, it's hard to tell. He does leave about an hour later, looking a little pale but in one piece. Elgyn reports this news back to Solbiort immediately. "Maybe this has nothing to do with the shipment... but I thought you should know."

Solbiort nods to Elgyn, looking a bit worried, "Don't think ve like that much, true. Could you let Raj know also? And... am thinking maybe he should have escort or two if talking to Astor face to face."

Elgyn nods firmly. "I'll handle it."

Solbiort says, "Sheh-sheh, di-di."

Later that day, in the early evening when Nigel and Elgyn have finished their tasks, the crew confers. Aster will be delivering the cargo later that evening prior to the ship's departure; the paperwork is on file in the dock offices and is in order. Solbiort glances at Raj thoughtfully, "So, vhat you think? Play innocent and assume they vant cargo to make it safely, or confront Aster about Tong?"

Elgyn looks confused. "I don't follow. Why would they not want to the cargo to be safe?"

Raj ponders a moment, then says, "I think a couple of oblique references, press him a bit about 'other encumbrances,' and see what he says. If he tries to shine us, we just ask straight up."

Solbiort says, "Tong could vant this ship to be damaged, Elgyn." She nods to Raj, "Hokay. Vill be there for back up if you vant."

Raj says to Elgyn, "What if they're smuggling something we don't want to be part of, like explosives? Or sabotaging the shipment? Or it's really more gorram baby, orphan, puppy-dog convicts in cryoboxes, more like..."

Elgyn sighs and shakes his head at Raj's further explanation. "Some days it's easier to long for home. All these shadow motivations."

Solbiort smiles faintly at Elgyn, but doesn't comment. She gets homesick too sometimes. She nods at Raj's comment as she rises, "Precisely. Is vhy I vant someone on bridge, and guarding Saladin, at all times vhile ve here." She considers, then says, "Hokay, let's see. Raj vill be meeting Aster here in Cargo. Nigel, can you cover bridge, und ve have Molly guarding Saladin at that time? Elgyn, vould like you as high cover in cargo, ya?"

Nigel shrugs, "Yeah. I can do that. She's as stable as she's going to be." He sounds somewhat offended. Solbiort gives Nigel a faintly puzzled look -- then grins suddenly, as she realizes his offense is with a patient daring to defy his healing abilities!

"At this rate, I'll decorate my favorite hiding spot with curtains," Elgyn murmurs with mild amusement. He watches hawk-eyed from his perch. To say that he's hoping for a conflict would be not quite correct, though he does find himself murmuring, "If I don't shoot someone soon, I'm going to forget how."

In a few hours two flatbed ground-mules hauling large trailers pull into the docks, both loaded with the curved ceramic plates. Corbin Aster is on the deck of the first one, and he hops off as the mules stop. He greets Raj with a smile, "Well, as you can see, we're all set to load the cargo..." Solbiort looms quietly and unsmilingly at Raj's left shoulder.

Raj shakes his hand and says, laughing, "This will certainly make it hard to get around the bay. Anything special we need to know about moving these around?" The conversation turns to the details of what to do, what not to do, delivery, payment, and all the little facts that go into interstellar trade. Shortly Raj is looking at the final paperwork, just about ready for signature. He pauses, looks sidelong at Mr. Aster a moment, then says, "I happened to be down on Red King Street just the other day, Mr. Aster. I couldn't find one good place to get a decent bowl of noodles. Do you know the area well?" Solbiort just silently studies Aster, arms folded and her emerald gaze cool.

Aster looks like he's been slapped, stunned. He glances up to Solbiort, swallows, and looks back to Raj, "I... ah...." Another glance at Solbiort, and his shoulders slump. "I don't know how you know," he says, "But I guess you know. It's the Tongs -- I owe them a lot of money and I need this cargo to go off without a hitch or they... they come and repossess, well... everything." He casts another nervous glance to Solbiort. "You... you know this, so look, you know I'm desperate! I'll give you half again what I said I would pay you, just... please, deliver the cargo! One hundred fifty percent is all I can afford to spare -- everything else has to go to the Tong."

Solbiort doesn't crack a smile whatsoever, but she is pleased at how well the guy spilled. She's gorram sure he's telling the truth, too. Raj nods, turning to face him, "I don't see any reason to change the terms after we've already made a deal. So long as we're not taking anything aboard we didn't bargain for, we're happy to do honest business with other honest folks. Let's sign off on this and get it loaded... unless there's something else you'd like to bring up..."

Aster's shoulders duck, and he bows. "Thank you! Oh, sweet Buddha bless you -- thank you!" The paperwork is completed and the cargo loaded in record time, and shortly... the ship is taking off for the black.

Solbiort murmurs quietly to Raj, as Aster hurries off, "Nicely done, Raj."

It is a few days later during the transit to Persephone that Nigel lets the others know Elsa is regaining consciousness and is out of immediate danger. Solbiort nods, "All right. Let's see vhat she has to say, if anything." She picks up her teacup and strides in a leisurely fashion to the wounded woman's cabin.

Elgyn blinks in astonishment. "Woman is hard to put down," he comments, following in Solbiort's wake.

Solbiort settles comfortably into the desk chair, turning to face the bed, and studies Saladin thoughtfully. "So... vhat you vant to say to us, Saladin?"

Elsa is indeed awake, and is sitting up in bed. She's been heavily bandaged, particularly around the arms; much of the rest of her body has been treated with spray-bandage and gauze. She glances over to the doorway as the others enter. "I don't know why you didn't leave me to die there," she says, her voice a little slurred, "but thank you. The gorram... bastards... whoever they are... they'd left me for dead."

Solbiort says, "Who? And vhere? Vhat happen? Tell complete story, please."

Saladin nods a little, wincing with the pain. "Month or so ago, Gorman and I were in hiding, trying to figure out what to do with the professor. Stupid frelling idea, but that was Gorman for you. Anyway, some people -- not the stealth-suit hundan, but they looked like spacer rabble -- got the drop on us and took the professor. Don't know what they wanted with him; we didn't exactly announce we had him. We decided to go looking for them, but in the process we must have asked a few too many questions. A few days later we got bushwhacked by three guys in active camo suits."

Solbiort nods, "Red half-moon on shoulder, ya? Go on." Elgyn blinks, looking thoughtful... this is getting more complicated all the time. Then again, the half-moons are of more import than Kingston, but still... it's a disturbing bit of news.

Saladin arches a brow and nods. "Yeah. Never saw that insignia before. They asked us a few questions, used some authenticator phrases that only people in our cell would know. They identified us, then proceeded to do nothing more exotic than beat the crap out of us -- Gorman, mostly. Wanted to know what happened to the General, what we'd done with him. But before they could finish their interrogation a message came in. I didn't hear much, my head was still ringing. But they... they told Gorman they had found the General, congratulated him for doing his duty, that they now had to go and finish their work before... ai ya, what did he say... 'before it's too late to turn back'... and then cut his damn fool head off."

Solbiort scowls, deeply worried for her crew. "How you escape?" She wonders what makes it 'too late to turn back.' She'd love to know that... so she can defy the red half-moons. Elgyn wonders if he's hearing this right. Because if he is... this is putting a new light on the matter.

"They plugged me a couple of times, and I went down and out. When I came to I found they'd set the building on fire, and I managed to crawl out of there." She holds up her arms. "Not before I got a reminder of why I damn well hate fire, though." She sighs. "When I saw the Feng Wu coming in for a landing, I knew you guys still had the general, and... well, I didn't want to die without seeing someone get some payback onto those hundan."

Solbiort feels sorry for Xin and Danviere -- nothing more than pawns in the war to possess Wintarsen. She sighs, then says to Elsa, "Hokay. So you have no idea vhat happen to poor Kingston except he vas taken by spacer rabble. Any idea vhy? Also, Gorman dead at hands of red half-moons, und they think they know vhere this general is. Any idea vhat they vant vith him? Und vhy you say you know ve have him?" She frowns, considering. Sounds like all the aggressive Browncoat cells must be heavily infiltrated. She should pass that information on, so the Alliance doesn't get bushwhacked in the same way the Browncoats were.

Saladin says, "No, no idea what happened to the prof. I can't understand what they wanted with him, or who they were. They looked like any of an underpaid boat crew or thug gang. As far as I know the 'red half-moons' want the General dead. And I figured you guys would still have him since I didn't hear any newswaves about him being found or your ship being bound by law by Security."

Solbiort sighs and shakes her head, "Am sorry, Raj. Don't know vhat they'd vant vith the professor." She gives Elsa a puzzled look, "So vhy Gorman keep injured who couldn't valk? He not realize vhat a danger that vas?"

Elgyn looks curious. "You expected that kind of information to be on the public 'waves? The prison break you pulled off wasn't."

Elsa looks to Elgyn. "Well, you'd find him eventually, and when you did one of two things would happen: Security would impound your ship and bind you all by law, and you'd never see the light of the world again -- or you'd never mention it to the Alliance. And if I was wrong... I was dying, man. If you had no idea what I was talking about, I'd shove off to the beyond and you'd just be scratching your heads. I didn't have anything to lose." She looks to Solbiort. "Dunno about that. Gorman was an idiot sometimes. He let himself get blindsided by a Shepherd. I got respect for the Shepherds, but they ain't exactly known for their fightin' prowess."

Elgyn spreads his hands, unable to argue with that. Solbiort smiles bitterly, then sits back and has a sip of tea while she considers. Finally she says, "Hokay, that helps. So, vhat you looking for now?"

"No idea. I didn't even expect to be alive this long. Your sawbones is a damn fine doc."

Solbiort nods, "The best. So. Think about it... 'cause ve got to decide vhat to do vith you, and your input vould be helpful." Elgyn doesn't add that the likely reason she's still alive is Nigel's extreme annoyance with her, though he does smile at the thought. Solbiort pauses, then says slowly, "Tell also, please... vhat your original plans for general vere?"

"Next port is a big place, Captain... she can easily get lost there. Find herself a rock and get under it so the half-moons never find her again and fix their mistake," says Elgyn.

Solbiort shakes her head to Elgyn, "She knows too much now, di-di."

Elgyn says, "Meaning what exactly?"

Solbiort shrugs, having another sip of tea before adding, "For all ve know, she is tagged by red half-moons, and they following us now." She grins wryly at Elgyn, adding, "Ve do haf history of picking up vounded puppies, after all."

Elsa nods, "We wanted him alive, Cap'n. We wanted him to revive the Browncoat movement, help us bring back our freedom from the Alliance." She scowls. "The hundan red half-moons apparently wanted us to do what we did, but had a different goal in mind. Ugh... I'm sorry, right about now I'm feelin' the meds kickin' in -- and if I'm awake much longer your doc is going to hit me with a mallet to put me out." She actually visibly shudders at that. "If yer gonna punch my ticket, I'll unnerstand. Jus' do it when I'm out."

Solbiort turns her focus on Elsa, her emerald eyes suddenly intense, "Saladin, listen to me. Vhat vas their goal?! Think! Vhat else did they say in front of you, vhen they vere sure you vould soon be dead?" Elgyn would ask more, but is taken aback by Solbiort's sudden outburst, and shuts up.

Saladin winces, rubbing her head. "Their goal? They want the General dead. In some specific way. That was all they said in front of me. They want him dead and they don't want it in an unmarked grave on the Fringe."

Solbiort nods, sitting back. "All right. Sheh-sheh." She rises, replacing the chair, "Sleep, heal now. Call if you are in need. For now you're safe in the black, vith us." Saladin nods, then slumps into the bunk and the embrace of unconsciousness. Solbiort sighs, waiting for everyone else to leave before she carefully closes and locks the hatchway door. "Vell. Vas interesting... confirmed much ve knew already, und told us poor Vintarsen really is just pawn to these folks. No vonder he is so messed up -- easiest vay to make sure his death is fiasco and death-knell for Browncoat movement." Absently she adds, "Damn. Should have asked about third vay. Ah, vell... can ask later." She glances at the others, "Vhat you all think?"

Elgyn groans, rubbing his head. "This is clear as mud to me. They send someone else to break the three out, and then try and take him from them, all just to kill him? If they didn't have him to begin with, then who mucked with their brains?"

Solbiort says, "Think they did have him, di-di. Think they vanted to have him bring back the Indep movement -- to be resoundingly, humiliatingly, permanently crushed. So they let Browncoats 'save' him."

Elgyn blinks and mulls that over. "If that's the case, why did they ambush the Browncoats so early? They should have let them take Wintarsen back and revive him, to have a movement to crush. More importantly, if the cells were so well infiltrated, they could have crushed the cells without even bothering."

Raj says, "I think there's little we can do about these mad-men. They seem to have tremendous resources, intelligence, and influence, and a willingness to simply murder anyone that threatens them in any way. They have some bizarre scheme involving Wintarsen and we're simply in the way."

Solbiort nods to Raj, then says to Elgyn, "Vere removing any 'expendables' to anger and fluster the remaining Browncoats, I think -- and to make sure their influence could not be seen. Also, alvays best to make sure heroes cannot become martyrs -- because then they live on for ever in hearts and minds." She adds very, very softly, "Think just killing him quietly might be most merciful..."

Elgyn shakes his head. "If they don't want Wintarsen to be a martyr they could have done that just by leaving him in cryo and letting him pass on like Xin did. Unknown and unsung."

Solbiort shrugs, "Elgyn, don't know for sure -- not a half-moon member. Can only speculate, based on data to date. Got better suggestion? Vould be very good to be able to predict their actions, in order to avoid them."

Raj says, "So... he's got nowhere to go, no one to help him, the existing Browncoat movement is just a trap, turning him over to the Alliance would get us strung up, and him put back in a box. Lovely."

Solbiort nods to Raj, "Sounds like. Poor boy. Or turning him over to Alliance vould get him dead the vay the red half-moons vant."

Elgyn shakes his head. "This is insane -- where the only way out is to kill a helpless, addled man. I refuse to believe that."

Solbiort sighs, rubbing her forehead, "Vould prefer not to believe it myself, di-di. Not sure vhat to do any more, though. Got crazy martyr-to-be in sickbay, got injured voman who knows ve have guns and general on-board but is too vounded to try blackmailing us yet... vould ask if it could get vorse, but have seen it do so too many times to make such a wyrd-tempting statement!"

Elgyn says, "You said that earlier, Captain -- that she knows too much... how do we know they didn't already know that? There was enough evidence to support it, anyway."

Solbiort says, "Alliance doesn't know it yet. Don't care to have Chimera impounded by her commentary."

Elgyn says, "It wouldn't benefit her to turn us in, Captain. At the moment, we're her only allies. Put mildly."

Solbiort sighs, "Elgyn, Elgyn... am trying to think long term, bao bay. Now ve are her only allies. Vill she still believe this vonce ve hit Persephone? Vhat if her choices are death at hands of red half-moons or sqvealing on us?"

Raj says, "Well, long term these jokers obviously still see the Browncoats as a threat. If they didn't, they wouldn't be trying to discredit and destroy them. What the heck do they know that we don't? From what I can see the Browncoats really don't have much going for them."

Solbiort nods to Raj, "Ya. Vould like to ruin their plans... but to do so need to know definitively vhat they vant. Not absolutely sure yet. Have idea, from Saladin's comments... but not sure enough to commit ship and crew to it."

Elgyn says, "If she's smart, and it seems like she is, then she's probably aware that turning us in doesn't save her ass. It possibly puts her in an Alliance jail cell anyway. And besides that, turning us in doesn't guarantee her safety. She's a marked woman no matter what she does now. In fact, turning her into the Alliance hands herself over on a plate. Whether they arrest her or not, her name will go in a file, and the half-moons suddenly know she's still alive."

Solbiort smiles at Elgyn, "If those are only possibilities, then true, ve are her best bet. But there are more possibilities than that that I can think up, and even more than ve now know... and I don't have time to sit and make them up for you, di-di. Point is she knows too much currently, and ve need to figure out how to tie her fortunes to ours... or quietly kill her. And vould very much prefer not to have to do that... but vill not stand by and allow her to endanger crew." She folds her arms and leans against the wall, considering Raj's words. "Am vondering more and more if perhaps this is mostly elaborate debunking of a hero myth. Remember stories of ancient rulers who promise to come back vhen their people most need them? Vonder if myth is growing up around Vintarsen, or somesuch..."

Raj shrugs, "Nothing we've heard about, but we're not really hooked into that bunch of folks, are we?"

Solbiort nods slowly to Raj, "True. That is vhat is so confusing... vhy all this effort, all this killing, for defeated general of var most now vant to forget?"

Elgyn seems to be brimming over with frustration. "If you decide the latter, don't ask me to do it, Captain," he says quietly.

Solbiort gives Elgyn a calm look, "Of course not, di-di."

Elgyn purses his lips. "We could lure them into a trap, Captain."

Solbiort turns to look thoughtfully at Elgyn. A moment later she says slowly, "How?"

Elgyn says, "It's relatively easy. We have what they want. So we give them an opportunity to get what they want. Let them find out where we're going, set the field on our terms. Wintarsen as bait. They come..." He smacks his hands together. "Bam."

Solbiort folds her arms, considering... then says slowly, "Vould need more allies..."

Elgyn smiles a little. "I know where we might get some..." he ventures.

Solbiort says, "But is good idea. Hm... vhere to locate trap, so innocents not harmed..." She looks up at Elgyn again, tilting her head, "Vhere? Or rather, who?"

Elgyn grins wider. "Ulundi. Which just happens to have a lot of wide-open space. Perfect for keeping innocents out of the kill-zone."

Solbiort raises an eyebrow, "Vhy they vant to lose more varriors to old politics, di-di? You sure you vant the possibility of a nuke on your homevorld?"

Elgyn's smile fades. "Damn. I forgot about the nukes." He shakes his head. "No, wait... they wouldn't want to nuke Wintarsen."

Solbiort says gently, "Is good idea, di-di, but should be up to Ulundi sonias vhether or not they commit more varriors, or maybe have nuke on their planet, ya? Und ve have no guarantee they don't vant to nuke Vintarsen. Could be cast as colossal military blunder on his part... like Shadow, remember?"

Elgyn sighs and rubs his forehead. "You have a point... it seems to me that this sort of campaign is something my people would leap at, but not with something unsporting like nuclear devices."

Solbiort nods, putting a hand gently on Elgyn's shoulder, "True. But still, is good idea. Let us see vhat allies ve can come up vith. Am thinking Five Dragons might jump at chance, after all. Maybe families of Browncoat dead also."

Elgyn says, "It would help if we knew exactly what the situation was back home. I was thinking that the Alliance keeping folks out might be something we could turn to our advantage."

Solbiort nods, "Good to gather more information first, to have more allies to hand. Unifying them vould be excellent first step in flushing out red half-moons. Und on Persephone ve can try for cargoes vhich take us back that vay, tovards Georgia."

Elgyn nods sagely, finally feeling like he has a firm goal in sight. "We'll figure this out. And then my blade will run red," he says darkly. Solbiort smiles, although her eyes are still troubled for her friend.

A short while later Solbiort is on the bridge, working with her terminal in the relative peace and quiet there. She's dithering a bit... after two weeks of time to consider and compose, she's finally got some poetry she's not too embarrassed by, to send to her lady love. The question now, she ruefully realizes, is if she's going to send it... she takes a deep breath, then hits the correct button to fire it off into the 'wave, to the secure drop Five Dragons had had established for them both before the Chimera left the Skamandrios docks.

Fire-winged phoenix shines
most brightly when lifted by
the velvety Dark.

Solbiort tilts her head curiously, watching the terminal screen. Funny... it's never been important to her before if anyone liked what she did or wrote or said or whatever... but this time she cares. She cares deeply if the Dragon Lady will love it or laugh at it. She smiles a bit ruefully... so this is love, as opposed to simple lust? Odd sensation. She'll have to see how it comes out.

Solbiort sighs, pulling her head together -- she can moon around over the lovely Dragon Lady later. Right now she has another difficult duty to perform, which she's been somewhat dreading. Slowly and carefully she types in the correct connection information for her Alliance Security drop... she must discover somehow whether or not the Colonel is deceased, or Adarra Security has been compromised.

It's a bit of a long shot -- Hera is currently halfway between conjunction and opposition to Adarra in the Quadrant, and it would take a few hours at best for data to be 'waved between the two worlds. Checking the drop, she is indeed greeted with a message, routed through Hera's Security directorate:

FROM CMNDNT/ADARRA SECDIR - ROUT CMNDNT/HERA SECDIR - DEST CHANGFEI/AGNT928-KAI ADARRA SECURITY STILL STANDS XX DAMAGE TO INFRASTRUCTURE, BUT UNCOMPROMISED XX CONTINUE OPERATIONS AS DISCUSSED XX ENDMESSG

"Damage to infrastructure" is clear enough to Solbiort -- it's Security-speak for casualties amongst their agents. There must have been more than a little fighting there, but it seems that Adarra's Security directorate wasn't destroyed. The message continues:

ADDND: (CMNDNT/ADARRA SECDIR) GIVE JI MY BEST; YOU MUST HAVE BY NOW TOLD HER WE'LL LOOK THE OTHER WAY.

Solbiort's eyes widen in a mix of shock and release -- Ji?! What a pretty name! Will Five Dragons mind if Soli calls her that in private? -and then she sighs gustily, almost slouching in the seat in relief. She just sits back for a while, savoring the pleasure of knowing folks she respects are fine and she doesn't have to fulfill a dangerous duty. She lets her head loll back on the pilot's headrest, her booted heels up on the edge of the board, and just beams lazily... then she sits up abruptly and happily starts typing in messages.

The first is to the Colonel -- she warns him the red half-moons seem to have so thoroughly infiltrated the Browncoat cells that they know the right identification codes, which Gorman and Saladin discovered to their dismay. She also reports on Saladin's condition and her description of Gorman's death, then asks the Colonel if they'd like to receive Saladin in an effort to keep her safe -- if Saladin agrees. Solbiort can't think of a better group to hand the poor woman over to, in order to keep her alive -- and this way she might even be able to help wreak some revenge on the damn red moons. Solbiort also notes a hasty decision is not necessary, as they're going to keep Saladin at least until Persephone -- at which point they'll be searching for cargoes again. If there just happened to be a good cargo to Skamandrios again, and Saladin agrees, Solbiort will be happy to deliver Saladin safely to them.

Solbiort then disconnects there, and re-connects with the secure drop box for Five Dragons. As per the colonel's request, she leaves his polite message for 'Ji' -- then cheerfully compliments the Dragon Lady on a lovely name! She wonders if Raj has handed off the rubies yet. She'd like to let Five Dragons know about that too, if it went well.

Solbiort sighs contentedly -- life is looking so much more up now! She considers a moment, checking her notes, then does a search for recent docking (as in the last two or three months) for three ships: the Tammuz, the Guilty Blade, and the Cincinnatus. She's curious as to whether they're truly vanished or not, so she leaves that running for a bit... and does a casual search for two things associated with Osiris. One is Osirite courting rituals, as she'd like to make sure she doesn't accidentally offend her lady. The second is if she can find a family about a generation ago that included a noted governmental official, a writer, and a corporate head... which had 4 children (including one set of twins), where almost all are currently deceased.

There are no results for ships of those names -- which really isn't surprising, since the Browncoats very likely renamed them and without the pulse-beacon code it'd be hard to find out just what the ships were originally named. Either way, there is no record of any of those ships docking anywhere. Osirite courting rituals are pretty much Central courting rituals -- which is to say, a mix of formal and casual, of ritual and lack of ritual. There doesn't seem to be a formal procedure or protocol for courting, but there's plenty of really rather sensible 'do's and don'ts, as well as what seems to be more of a 'manners' guide for things such as meeting the courted one's family. There are no local records of the family she is searching for information on, and so no 'casual' way of gathering that information. The Cortex helpfully suggests getting in touch with a records office in Osiris or submitting a query to a news clipping service in the Central Planets.

Solbiort carefully makes notes regarding courting in the Central planets. She probably won't court precisely as they believe should be done, since she's Midgaardian. However, she emphatically does not want to commit a faux pas -- especially one that might embarrass her beloved. Regarding the other two queries, she's not really surprised at the lack of information. She'll try sicc'ing Nigel on the ships question later... she'd love to find out if the shattered shells of the missing ships have been found, or if they actually managed to escape the ruthlessly efficient red moons.

Solbiort does a final check on the Security drop box, since they have been rather quick to reply of late -- not without reason, she amusedly notes to herself. Nothing there, which she supposes is a good thing, all things considered. She does a quick check on the Adarran news, wondering if she can find out anything else non-official about the attack. The sniper attack on Adarra is still the buzz of the newswaves, as is the way the Scarlet Chimera stopped it. Of course there aren't a lot of details, but the law compliance officers are still asking for the Chimera's assistance in the investigation. Despite this, there are more than a few splash pieces that talk about the Chimera and her crew, going from when the ship was captured from pirates back at Demeter so many and yet so few months ago. So it appears -- at least in some parts of Adarra -- the crew's now fairly well known.

Solbiort rolls her eyes in a mix of amusement and exasperation. It's one thing when they tell tall tales about her, but this her crew sure didn't need! She considers for a while, wondering if Adarran Security can get them off her crew's backs... then shakes her head amusedly again. This is the press, and if there's even a hint of a cover-up, they'll swarm like flies over autumlas dung. She makes a note -- if they return to the Adarran system, she'll have to stop by and talk to the nice officers.

Solbiort tucks away her terminal, then rises and stretches her arms over her head, enjoying the feel of her muscles shifting and moving under the skin. Hmm... maybe she can find a nice bar fight someplace... ? She settles back into her normal stance, sighing slightly. Probably not, actually... Demeter's depressingly civilized now. She smiles a bit ruefully, then strides briskly out, heading for the cabin Saladin's currently in to see if she's awake. The injured woman is still somewhat weak, but she's at least eating solids, and she's awake as Solbiort comes in. She looks to the door as Solbiort opens it, and nods. "Captain," she says by way of greeting.

Solbiort nods in return, flipping the sole chair around and settling heavily into it, "Nihao, Saladin. Feeling better?"

Saladin nods a little. "Much less like I crawled through a burning building, yes."

Solbiort's small, brief smile is mostly humorless -- it's not something she'd care to have to experience either, after all. Quietly she says, "Vould like to ask you some qvestions. Feel up to talking?"

Saladin grunts a little, sitting up in the bed. "Sure, Captain. What's on your mind?"

Solbiort says, "Hokay. Think ve have a common enemy, and don't vant to just dump you out anyvhere. Also, used to fly for Alliance in the var, and still have some old var buddies out there. So... first, do you have anyplace to go vonce you are healed up?"

If she has any reaction to Solbiort having been an ex-Alliance pilot, Saladin makes no show of it -- she just shakes her head. "No, nowhere. I figured the hundan knew who we are, down to our bios, and if I go home to family right away I'm just setting them up to be killed."

Solbiort says, "Hokay. In that case, vould you like to go help some old friends of mine, in their efforts to stop the red moons?"

"Yeah... yeah, I think I'd like to. They're vicious bastards, ai ya -- and, well... they've got to be up to less good than anyone in the Alliance would think Gorman and I were up to. What do you have in mind?"

Solbiort says, "Got someone I respect on Skamandrios, who's head of Adarran Security there -- a colonel now. They've thrown off one attack there already. Think they can keep you safe, und I know they vant those red moon hwoon dahn bad now. Think ve're heading towards creating an ambush for them, and ve'll need all the allies ve can find -- Browncoat and Alliance for this." She studies the wounded woman carefully, then says, "You in?"

Saladin frowns. "Security... holy crap." She rubs her eyes, then gives a nervous little laugh. "I'm pretty sure they'll be arresting me when all is said and done, if not sooner. I've not been a terribly good girl, at that." She drops her hand and sighs a bit. "But a cell or a penal colony's got to be better than what they did to Gorman. Yeah, I'm in, Captain."

Solbiort nods, smiling a bit, "Vork vith them is all I ask. If they can vork vith me, und I'm still running around loose, then am thinking they can vork vith you also, ya? Und vhen this is all over and done, if you're really stuck... give me a call. No promises, but might be able to scare up a ship's berth for you somevhere."

"Well, as you said, Captain, you're ex-Alliance. They'd be inclined to be working with you. But like I said, better them than the red half-moons. Alliance'll only put me in gaol or a penal colony." She blinks and nods, still looking a bit stunned. "Uh... thanks, Captain. I'm... surprised by the offer. I understand no promises."

Solbiort nods, pleased. "Hokay, only two more questions. First, haf you ever heard of somezing called third vay? Und second, how you survive last two veeks?"

Saladin's voice is starting to fade already as she replies -- she doesn't know the third way, and it was a combination of luck and her medical training that kept her alive. Solbiort nods again, rising quietly. "Hokay. Rest und heal now. Get better," she grins, her eyes gleaming wickedly, "or our doc will come for you!"

Saladin groans. "Merciful Buddha, I need to get better just to get away from him...!" Solbiort laughs, not unkindly, as she ducks through the hatchway.

Solbiort has been dutifully reading every night to the two invalids in medbay... and slowly, her hopes for their recovery have been falling. Finally, one night en route to Persephone, after she finishes reading, she turns off her terminal and sighs. She sits quietly in medbay for some time as she watches the two sick people and considers.

Looks like Danviere will never awaken -- that formerly bright, brilliant woman is going to be a vegetable for the rest of her natural life. Wintarsen is technically awake... but he's been mentally roughed up so much he's not much better than Danviere. With luck he'll be able to dress and feed himself eventually, but live on his own? Solbiort shakes her head slowly... doesn't look like it.

Solbiort grimaces slightly. If true, that means the (by now) hundreds of people who've died have all died for nothing. She hopes there's more to it than this... but she's not going to lug around two helpless, useless bodies forever. It's not fair to them, or to her crew. Once the red half-moons have been dealt with, the crew should take these two invalids to a good Central hospital. At least there the two broken, damaged former people can get good care.

Solbiort sighs, rising and heading out of medbay. There's one person she needs to talk to about this, to start preparing her for the end of a dream she's had... Molly. She comms Molly, quietly asking the girl to meet her in the Officer's Lounge.

Molly has been heroically tussling with the galley -- this time she managed to not make the coffee machine explode. At Solbiort's request in the middle of the ship's night she stiffens a little, looking a bit nervous. A few minutes later, Molly pads into the Officer's Lounge. "You, ah, wanted to see me, captain?"

Solbiort nods, waving to a chair, "Ya, Molly. Have seat, please?" Her demeanor is a bit unhappy. Nigel is pretty much lounging about, looking absorbed in something on his portable terminal. He hasn't even sworn at it in over an hour. Molly swallows, and nods, sitting on the edge of the chair and looking for all the world like she's about to be canned. Solbiort sighs, composing her thoughts, then says gently, "Mei-mei, do you remember when you first joined us? You said you vanted to make sure Vintarsen and the other two vere able to live out their lives in peace somevhere on the Fringe, ya?"

Molly relaxes, but only a little bit. She nods slowly. "Yes, Captain. I... still hope that I can do that, though," she adds with a nervous laugh, "I hope I can have the difficult choice of that or staying on your crew!" She grimaces a bit at the lame-sounding attempt at levity. "Er... that is to say... um."

Solbiort nods once, then continues, "Have you spent much time around them recently, mei-mei?"

Molly looks suddenly discomfited, and fidgets a little. "I... I try to help out there when I can, uhm, orderly-work and... I mean... yes, Captain."

Solbiort looks a bit perplexed, "Vhat?"

Molly's shoulders slump, and she ducks her head. "I mean to say... yes, Captain, I have spent time around them both." Her voice is hollow. Nigel raises his head very briefly at hearing his patients mentioned, narrowing his eyes curiously as Solbiort questions the girl.

Solbiort nods slowly, "Then I suspect you've realized by now... they're not coming back." She sighs softly, adding, "Shuh-muh, mei-mei." She turns to Nigel, "Do you think Danviere vill ever avaken, di-di Nigel? Or that Vintarsen vill ever be able to talk coherently for more than 5 minutes?" Molly's hands tighten on her breeches, clutching the fabric as she seems to pull even further into herself, not looking at Solbiort or Nigel.

Nigel smirks unhappily, "I'm not exactly holdin' out a lot of hope for it... I might be able to do it..." His attention drifts off, back toward the terminal.

Solbiort nods quietly, not pressing Nigel on a subject he also seems uncomfortable with. She turns back to Molly, regarding the girl thoughtfully... then sighs, rising to sit next to her and offer her a handkerchief. "Shuh-muh so much, mei-mei..."

Molly isn't crying -- yet -- but her voice is soft and a bit choked. "Pa and Sis... both of them... they went off to join him in the war. All they'd told me about him, all I'd heard from other Browncoats who'd actually been in the War, all I'd read... I wanted... I wanted him to have at least the same chance we did... even under the Alliance flag, the chance t-to just live. An' after seein' what was done to them... nobody deserves that, not for doing your job, not for being a good general...." She accepts the handkerchief, not using it yet but clutching it in both hands just below her face.

Solbiort puts an arm gently around Molly's shoulders and sighs unhappily. "Neh, no one deserves that, mei-mei. I wish I knew how to fix it." Nigel hunches up a little tighter with his terminal, very studiously not looking toward the distraught girl, ears and neck going a little red and a scowl growing on his face.

Molly's voice cracks a little. "It's... it's all right, C-captain. I know th-that you're tellin' the truth... an' that Nigel did th' best, th' very best that h-he... that he c-cou...." She tenses a bit and stands, taking in a shaking breath. "P-permission t' turn in for the evening, captain."

Solbiort nods quietly, watching Molly rise, "Of course, mei-mei. Please feel free to come talk to me later if you vish as vell, ya? No von should be alone vhen grieving."

Molly murmurs, "Thank you, Captain," and walks quickly out the door, her fingertips brushing Nigel's shoulder in passing. The door closes behind her. Nigel actually jumps a little at the touch and then makes the motion into a squirm, relaxing some now that Molly is no longer about to break down into tears in the room with him.

Solbiort sighs, leaning back in the chair and putting her arms behind her head. She knows quite well Molly won't talk to her, but hopefully that will incline the distraught girl to talk to someone instead of being completely alone in her grief. She murmurs quietly to Nigel, "Truth, di-di... is there any hope for them?"

Nigel runs both hands through his hair, resting his terminal against his thighs, snorting bitterly, "Depends on if some quack went in and sliced them up with a gorram scalpel or if it was all drugs... not that drugs makes it all better. I mean, you can do permanent damage with chemicals."

Solbiort sighs softly, "Vell. Is there any vay to tell? Und if it vas drugs, does this mean there is still hope?"

Nigel rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands, "I'd need access to some extremely good scanning equipment..." shaking his head, "Not many hospitals we'd be able to waltz into..." He trails off, looking thoughtful. Solbiort waits quietly, curious as to how Nigel will finish that sentence. Nigel shakes his head, still looking abstracted, "I'll... have to get back to you. I might have the beginnings of a clue."

Solbiort raises an amused eyebrow, then murmurs, "Vell, ve'll be docking on Persephone in about a veek and a half, di-di. Vill your clue be useable by then?"

Nigel says, "Captain, that could be exactly the key we need."

Solbiort tilts her head curiously, "Vhat could be?"

Nigel nods and goes back to zipping through things on the terminal, "Persephone. Perfect."

Solbiort grins, stretching her long legs out, "Vell, good then. Anything else you need?" Nigel waves the captain off, already getting pulled into the world of information, muttering vaguely Latin sounding terms as he runs through information on the terminal. Solbiort chuckles quietly, watching the intense little doctor at work.

Elgyn appears in the doorway then, peering around. In his hands is... a pair of knitting needles and a rather sorry-looking bit of knitting. "Is there something wrong with Molly, or does my first attempt at a hat really look that bad?"

Solbiort chuckles quietly, waving Elgyn in, "Neh, neh, di-di... I just made her face something she didn't really vant to face." She sighs quietly, then murmurs, "Should have made tea..."

Nigel looks up at Elgyn, scowling as he tries to parse the non sequitur, "Yes, and yes.... that ain't an either-or. Gorram." Solbiort laughs softly, then rises to make herself (and the others, should they wish) some tea.

Elgyn snorts. "If you had to suture with needles this big, Nigel, you'd fare no better." He puts the knitting aside as he sits with Solbiort. "Is there something I should be concerned about, Captain?"

Solbiort glances over her shoulder at Elgyn and nods, "Ya. Told her she shouldn't be alone vhile grieving, und she should feel velcome to come talk to me if she vanted. Don't think she vill, but she may go to you."

Nigel eyes the knitting, then looks at Elgyn, "You know, usually it's easier with bigger things. I bet you'd have a harder time doing it with a suture needle..." Then he's right back into the computer.

Solbiort grins, shaking her head quietly in amusement. Elgyn makes a huffing noise. "I'll have you know I suture just fine, and the Captain can testify to that!"

Solbiort grins at the teapot, then turns around with an innocent look on her face. "Hmm?"

In the middle of a pulse-transit, Cortex use can be flaky, but fortunately some of the information Nigel is looking for is cached on his terminal. What he doesn't have, he taps the local 'tex for, and the information he wants is 'waving its way to him even as he researches related topics. The parasite Natasha Rivenova mentioned to him, the source of the 'Twitches' with the oddly-familiar symptoms... just as she said, there it is. And shortly the data for concocting the test to detect the presence of the parasite's toxin is in his terminal. It's not a difficult test -- sparing the details, a correlation test of spinal fluid pH levels and the presence of certain protein keys in the lymphatic system, as well as a couple of neurological batteries. Nigel can do it fairly quickly: a few hours to conduct the tests and fifteen minutes to correlate the results.

Nigel's face lights up as if someone just handed him a million plats and a catalog of engine parts, "Perfect!" He throws his head back and laughs like a loon for a moment before tucking his terminal under his arm and heading toward the sick bay, actually whistling.

Elgyn looks blankly at Solbiort. "Your guess is a good as mine."

Solbiort looks curious... then grins at Elgyn, "Vhy guess, di-di? Let's go find out!" She picks up her teacup and paces easily along behind Nigel. Elgyn looks thoughtfully at the ugly not-quite-a-hat, and then ignores it, moving to catch up with Solbiort.

A brief check of the infirmary and the materials he picked up on Demeter confirms for Nigel that he can conduct the tests needed. Immediately, even. Solbiort settles comfortably in medbay, staying out of Nigel's way as much as she can. She sips her tea and silently, curiously observes. Nigel puts his terminal on the counter and starts rifling through drawers and cabinets, "I'm probably going to need some help holding them... at least Wintarsen. Spinal taps hurt like a sonuvabitch, and if the old man squirms I could turn him into a talking head..." He doesn't seem to actually be talking to anyone in particular, just muttering to himself between snatches of whistling something downright peppy.

Solbiort nods to Elgyn, "Better be you, di-di -- you're better trained for this sort of thing."

Elgyn continues looking confused. "I suppose...but what's a spinal tap?"

Solbiort says, "He'll put a long needle into the spinal cord to draw some fluid, I think."

Nigel comes up from a crouch with needles that look like they could be used for nails. Long nails. He's also got several vials of liquid and sample tubes. Turning around, he starts to move toward the door, only to be surprised when he realizes that Elgyn and Soli are in the room, "Buddha's holy hind-end... don't sneak up on me like that!"

Solbiort snorts amusedly over her teacup at Nigel, then grins, "Ve'll try not to, di-di."

Elgyn blinks and laughs. "We weren't exactly being quiet..."

Nigel motions Elgyn toward the beds, "I need you to hold these two as still as if letting them twitch would rip your balls off... I don't want to go through all this just to stab through a spine." Solbiort sips her tea and watches in quiet fascination.

Elgyn snorts. "It would take a lot for one of them to do such a thing, but I appreciate the metaphor... still, wouldn't it be easier to accomplish this by not poking around their spines with sharp things?"

Solbiort shakes her head amusedly -- Elgyn does seem to ask for Nigel to snark at him sometimes. She wonders if it's deliberate, to keep the intense little doctor calm... hm. Probably not -- Elgyn's not really that manipulative, that she's seen. Nigel rolls his eyes as he pulls on sterile gloves, "No. See, the only way to get spinal fluid is to put a needle between two vertebrae into the spinal sheath and draw it off. If I could do this by closing my eyes and wishing, I would."

Elgyn starts to ask why Nigel needs spinal fluid, and then decides maybe now is another one of those times to just watch and listen instead of asking questions. "Very well. But if you miss and paralyze these poor folk, I'm going to take great pleasure in saying 'I told you so,'" he rumbles. "Who's first?"

Nigel adds, "But since I have yet to perfect my mental spinal siphoning skills, you get to do something infinitely easier than knitting, which is holding a feeble old man in place. Think you're up to it?" Solbiort covers a grin.

Elgyn snorts. "I could do it in my sleep."

Nigel motions at Danviere, "Actually, we'll do the lady first... she's less likely to wake up and want to spout philosophy." Solbiort makes a small choked noise behind her hand.

Elgyn rolls his eyes. "Be nice, Doctor. She didn't choose to be comatose." He moves over next to Danivere, though, pinning her shoulders down. You never can be sure, particularly in regards to reflex action...

Nigel readies one of the needles, "Did I disparage her honor? No, I simply stated that we're not likely to get a soliloquy out of her rather than out of Wintarsen." He shows Elgyn how to hold the woman steady on her side before he very carefully draws off the fluid. Elgyn watches with quiet curiosity at this procedure, taking instruction without complaint. Nigel lapses into a clinical, almost crisp tone of voice, "A spinal tap is dangerous, but also the only way to look for what I'm hoping I don't find..." He actually changes his gloves between doing Danviere's tap and Wintarsen's.

Elgyn peers at Nigel. "What you don't find? With all that cheeriness, I was thinking you'd found out something good, rather than something bad..."

Solbiort rumbles quietly, "Correct diagnosis is alvays goot, di-di Elgyn."

Elgyn tilts his head. "I suppose, but it is usually the presence -- not the lack -- of something that leads you closer to the truth." Solbiort smiles, but figures this is Nigel's field of expertise so she should hush.

Nigel holds up the two samples of spinal fluid to the light and takes a deep breath, "I'm tired of not knowing what in the name of all that's shiny and bright is doing this to them." Without another word, he turns to the test equipment he got prepared. After several minutes' silence he says, "This is going to take a while..."

Solbiort murmurs quietly, "Ve haf a veek und a half, di-di Nigel. Ve are in no hurry."

Elgyn hmms. "We're not going to sit here for a week and a half though, right?" Solbiort smiles, sipping her tea.

Nigel turns around to face the captain and Elgyn, saying in a carefully neutral tone, "This is going to take me a couple of hours. And if you're sitting there the whole time, I'm likely to gnaw through your knees. Go..." He waves his hand at the door, "Practice naked oil wrestling or something."

Elgyn frowns deeply, even as his face flushes. "You ought to shut up more, Doctor," he growls.

Solbiort laughs, then straightens, making a courteous and perfect Central planets-style bow, "Buddha forbid ve should so damage your teeth, Doctor Baird." She grins mischievously at Nigel, then chuckles at Elgyn, "Come, di-di... vas funny." Nigel snorts and turns back to his tests as the other two leave. Elgyn just scowls and stalks off. Solbiort grins, enormously amused at both boys, and continues her nightly walk about the ship.

Nigel emerges a few hours later, looking half elated, half annoyed. He herds Elgyn and the captain back into the officer's lounge. Solbiort grins at Nigel's twitchy enthusiasm, settling on a couch to listen. "Well, I don't know that I've ever been so pissed off and relieved at the same time... not to mention more clear on something and more gorram confused." He is carrying his terminal and it's full of data, which he waves at as he speaks, "There's a disease called Twitches that Natasha's been studying... they've been developing prosthetics for the physical issues. It's caused by a toxin produced by a parasite that's unique to Ashtoreth." He hops up to sit on a table, putting his terminal down beside him, "The Indecicles were dosed with a megadose of the toxin."

Solbiort blinks, considering. "Vait... so a toxin they're still not sure about vas injected into these folks almost a decade ago?!" She draws a slow breath, murmuring, "That's... inhuman."

Nigel says, "The toxin would be in high demand on the illicit drug market if it didn't turn you into a vibrating vegetable. It's a narco-hypnotic... you could rewrite someone's brain with this stuff just as easy as I'd re-configure the ship."

Solbiort ahs softly, suddenly understanding. She frowns, thinking for a bit, then says slowly, "So... vhy didn't it vork? Und how do ve reverse it?"

Elgyn chews on that. "That explains why the experimental toxin, but still not the way of the larger picture."

Nigel leans forward, putting his elbows on his knees, "Captain, who's to say it didn't work? We can't trust a word Wintarsen's said to be the absolute truth... and he'd pass every lie-detector test known to humankind as he told us everything he thinks he knows."

Solbiort says, "It did not vork in that Vintarsen knows something is vrong. To truly vork he should not be avare he has trouble vith his memory."

Nigel holds up a hand, suspecting someone will want to say something, "But! It can be treated. I... uhm... I want to work with Natasha on this a little bit. She's been up to her ears in it a bit..."

Elgyn groans. "That's worse news. Our biggest source of information could be our biggest red herring.

Solbiort raises an eyebrow at Nigel, "She is still on Skamandrios? Hm... ve could find cargo for that area if you vish, di-di Nigel." To Elgyn she says, "Howso, di-di Elgyn?"

Elgyn says, "Just what Nigel said, captain. Perhaps it didn't work perfectly, but can we be sure it didn't work at all? Could everything he's told us only be what the enemy wants him to 'know'?"

Nigel scratches under his chin where there's a nearly invisible growth of stubble, "Their memories need to be repaired... it could be possible, sort of the way memory is recoverable even if the memory of a machine seems to have been wiped. There are still traces of what's real."

Solbiort's eyes widen slightly at that. "Truly, di-di Nigel?! Now that vould be somezing vorth vorking for!"

Nigel grins broadly, "Wouldn't it just?"

Solbiort smiles, for the first time not out of hope for the poor invalids. "Oh, definitely. Vhat ve need to do? Just get you to Skamandrios? Vill Natasha still be there in... let's see... a month?"

Elgyn looks worried. "Will she be safe for a month, is a more important question. Perhaps she should arrange passage offworld..."

Nigel turns to his terminal, skimming through information, "She sent me her schedule..." In his abstraction, that last word comes out as "Shed-ule." "Uhm... no. She'll be on Boros..."

Solbiort nods, "All right, ve'll try for cargo in that area. Skamandrios or Boros both vill do." She adds quietly, "Think I have person Saladin can be safe vith in Boros area, so have two reasons to return there."

Nigel nods, "She'll still be working on this, but her job is making her move around..."

Elgyn hnhs. "That could be very good, or very bad."

Solbiort says, "Whyso, di-di Elgyn?"

Elgyn spreads his hands. "On a world firmly controlled by the Alliance, Captain, it means the Half-moons would have to tread more lightly... or it could mean that they had the home advantage, if they're well wormed into the local power structure."

Solbiort says, "There is no vay to know vithout going there, di-di. Ve shall simply have to be careful, since ve have multiple reasons to return."

Elgyn smiles grimly. "I should think we should be careful no matter where we go, Captain."

Solbiort says, "Nigel, do you vant to set up appointment vith Natasha, so she knows ve vill meet her in about a month? Vould not vant to arrive there only to discover schedule has changed."

Elgyn purses his lips. "Would that be wise, captain?"

Solbiort says, "I trust Nigel's old professor to be discreet, and if it vill save the lives of our two invalids... then how can ve not?"

Nigel nods and is already tapping away on a 'wave to Natasha proposing lunch and collaboration on something she'll find fascinating. And that's just how he words it: "I'll be on Boros in about a month. How does lunch and collaboration on a medical case I think you'll find fascinating sound? Can't give too many details just now, but it'll be worth a look."

Solbiort nods to Nigel, "Sounds good, di-di."

Elgyn shakes his head. "I am not faulting Natasha's discretion. Only worried that someone else might be reading her mail, as it were."

Solbiort smiles, "Di-di Elgyn, ve do the best ve can... but at some point ve must still live, not cower in fear of possibilities. Vhen ve can help others live too... then ve are truly living."

Elgyn spreads his hands. "I was only thinking that perhaps it might serve to be less obvious about it...but I'll trust that Nigel knows what he's doing."

Nigel closes his terminal and stands up, stretching and grinning broadly, "I'm going to go sleep. I think I've earned it." He sketches an ironic little salute as he wanders off.

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Last modified: 2006-Mar-04 21:02:19

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