Characters: All
NPC: Chuck, Simrii & Lt. Mizepsharguliig
Location: Witness Protection Level - Maran Naval Facility
System: Maran
"It seems we've made the news," Darrurz states flatly.
The TNS logo appears for two seconds and is then followed by a human female
reporter. "A system defense recon drone collided with a far trader today. There
are very few details available at the moment but at 5:45 Standard Vilani Time, a
system defense recon drone collided with a Garu class far trader as it waited
in line to enter Meliva starport. There are no reports of any injuries at this
time, but the ship had to be evacuated as the collision crippled the ship's
fusion reactor."
Cut to video of Miishakaal being caught in the net.
"You can see in this video the drone is embedded quite deeply in the trader's
hull. Authorities were able to capture the ship using a retrieval net before it
could damage any other ships or the city itself."
Video returns to reporter. "The ship was then towed to the shipyard where an
investigation is under way to determine the cause of the crash. Traffic Warden
Arkugeshe held a brief press conference."
Video cuts to press conference.
Unseen Reporter #1: "Do you know why the drone attacked that
ship?"
Traffic Warden Arkugeshe: "Not at this time. We hope to recover its data
logs as well as the trader's sensor logs to determine what happened."
UR #2: "Is it possible that the trader was carrying explosives with the
intent of blowing up the city?"
TWA: "No. All of the Navy's scans indicated that the cargo it carried was
benign."
UR #2: "What was it carrying?"
TWA: "I'm sorry, I don't have that information."
UR #2: "Then how do you know it wasn't a terrorist threat."
TWA: "I just told you. The Vilani Navy scanned the ship and said that its
cargo was harmless."
UR #2: "But—"
TWA: "Look, if you've got some reason why I shouldn't trust the Navy,
then please tell me. I'd sure love to hear it."
Silence.
TWA: "Didn't think so. Next question."
UR #3: "Were there any injuries?"
TWA: "None. The crew were safely evacuated. There were no passengers."
UR #1: "What was the name of the trader?"
TWA: "I'm sorry I can't release that right now."
UR #1: "Why not?"
TWA: "The ship is a crime scene. I don't want any of you snooping
around."
UR #3: "Where's the crew?"
TWA: "They're being held in protective custody as persons of interest in
an ongoing investigation."
UR #3: "Where are they being held?"
TWA: "Someplace safe."
UR #3: "Are you saying their lives are in danger."
TWA: "I'm not saying anything of the sort. The Traffic Authority and the
Navy want them close by while we determine the cause of the crash. Maran is a
world of three billion people. We wouldn't want them to get lost in the crowd.
That's all I have for now. We'll release more information when we have it."
The video returns to the reporter. "TNS has since learned that the far trader's
name is Miishakaal. Its distress call was picked up by several ships
before a naval vessel, the Zasheshudnam, answered it."
Screen switches to transcript of distress call while the audio plays out. "GK,
GK, GK. This is the RZSM Miishakaal under attack by forces unknown.
Request immediate assistance. All vessels. I repeat: GK, GK, GK. This is the
RZSM Miishakaal under attack by forces unknown. Request immediate
assistance. All vessels."
Back to the reporter. "There's no word yet as to whether or not the ship is
local to Maran. Sheila Buncovish reporting."
Characters: All
NPC: Chuck, Simrii and Lt.
Mizepsharguliig
Location: Witness Protection Level - Maran Naval
Facility
System: Maran
"Congratulations," a female human voice says. Everyone turns to look to see a
short woman with dark brown skin and hair and gold eyes in Vilani Naval dress
uniform. "Everyone's talking about you." She scans the faces of everyone,
settles on Gvarokh and crosses the room to shake his paw. "You must be Gvarokh.
I'm Lieutenant Mizepsharguliig. I'll be legal counsel for you and your crew
while you remain in protective custody."
Gvarokh introduces the crew to her.
She gestures to the wall screen
behind Gvarokh. "Is he a friend of yours?"
A picture of Ali Kergida is on the screen. It's a Murgimdingur Shugilii
Enterprises PR photo.
Gvarokh looks at the screen for a moment, then turns his gaze back to Lt.
Mizepsharguliig and states, "No. However, I am trying to find out if he is an
enemy. On a related subject, what do you know about Murgimdingur Shugilii
Enterprises?" After Gvarokh asks his question, he catches himself and says, "I
am sorry. I am getting way ahead of myself. What can I do for you?"
"No, no problem. MSE deals in food products. Domestic and Imported. They're big
here. Food is a big deal on a planet with 3 billion people and almost half of it
is desert." She pauses. She politely states, "What you can do for me is explain
why you're trying to figure out if Ali Kergida and MSE are potential enemies."
Gvarokh explains, "The last time we were on Maran, when we sold our speculative
cargo, Mr. Kergida was particularly upset, even though arbitration vindicated
us, and left us with threats. I just thought it would be worthwhile to perform
our due diligence to see if he or MSE have the means to carry out something
like this.
"I am not saying they were involved. I am not saying they were not involved. But
it is the only real lead we have at the moment, so I figured we should check it
out."
"Who did you sell your cargo to?" Mizepsharguliig asks.
Darrurz answers, "Hans Glubberfloten of Orem Imports."
"Well, it certainly gives him motive," Mizepsharguliig replies. "Orem Imports is
MSE's number one competitor, and competition has been fierce." She shakes her
head and blinks rapidly. "Wait a second. Are you saying that you don't think
that the recon drone's collision with your ship was an accident?"
Gvarokh answers with no hesitation, "We don't know. We do know the drone scanned
us, shot us, then rammed us. That sure looks pretty intentional. We could have
been the intended target. Or, we could have simply been a target of convenience
in some larger 'grand plan' of some sort. We also don't know if that is even a
real recon drone. It could have been a 'forgery' of sorts.
"But, assuming that your recon drones work like most military hardware I've had
experience with, the actions the drone performed cannot be an 'accident.'
Someone told it to do that."
Mizepsharguliig mulls that over before replying. "Ordinarily, I'd dismiss that
as conspiracy theory paranoia. However, your encounter with Kergida and MSE
provides a motive. Actually, the political situation on Maran provides plenty of
motive for just about anything bad that happens these days. Obviously, I'll
have to track down the transcripts to back up your implied allegation."
Gvarokh is about to protest, but she raises a hand to stop him.
"I'm on your side, remember. Implied allegations are safe with me. Now, if the
drone were a forgery, Traffic Authority would've picked it up pronto. Nothing
moves around in Meliva space without them knowing about it. Kergida and MSE
could not have pulled off any kind of attack with a recon drone on their own.
They don't have the resources. But Kergida's uncle would."
"His uncle?"
She walks over to the screen and says, "Show Malik Kergida."
An older man with some resemblance to Ali appears on the screen. The man is
wearing a military uniform with lots of colored bars and medals.
"Malik Kergida is the Defense Minister for the Principality of Murgimdingur.
Now, the system defense recon drones are the property of the Navy and none of
its personnel are local. The Igsiirdi have been quite upset with the
deteriorating situation here. They ordered the Navy to transfer all personnel
with any sort of local connection to maintain the Navy's position of neutrality.
They even imposed neutrality on Meliva since it's home to the starport. Of
course, that hasn't stopped the Marans from trying to overturn that edict." She
pauses. "If Minister Kergida found a way to infiltrate the Navy with spies..."
"Or hackers," Slade adds.
Mizepsharguliig gestures agreement with Slade. "Or hackers, we're all in
trouble." She sighs. "You gentlemen may have gotten yourselves caught up in a
proxy war." She checks her watch. "I've got a lot of digging to do. Do you have
any questions for me before I get to work?"
Darrurz looks at the Lieutenant with his head slightly tilted to the right and
his ears fully standing. He barks to get the computer's attention. "Access trade
dispute, Murgimdingur Shugilii Enterprises vs RZSM Miishakaal and Orem
Imports. Meliva Downport 1125.35.6. Enlarge Judge's summary."
He paces up and down the room just wanting to do something, anything, his
instincts are telling him to jump into action, but he can't as he is caged. He
doesn't come across aggressive so much as restless.
Mizepsharguliig sighs some slight annoyance. "I had intended to look that up
from my quarters." She gestures at the nearest chronometer. "It's mer ishuuna
after all. Rest period?" She smirks in an effort to indicate that what she's
about to say shouldn't be taken seriously. "Did you just jump here from Terra?"
Darrurz ignores the remark and barks again, "New holo, access RZSM
Miishakaal trading transactions Meliva Downport 1125.35.6. Enlarge second
transaction." Showing the sale of one ton (24,000) bottles of liquor for Cr
480,000. "That one probably rang a few bells." Again instinctively, Darrurz
sniffs to catch the scent of the lieutenant, and he stops mid-pacing to look at
her.
The confusion on her face is evident. "Why are you showing me," she looks
closer, "a liquor sales transaction? MSE isn't involved. Was there some other
disgruntled trader involved in this transaction?"
Darrurz doesn't answer. Instead he tilts his head slightly to the left. "We came
into the traffic pattern early in the dran and were scanned by a drone. We were
held up from getting into the starport because of something unusual happening
in the line in front of us. Chatter suggested it was a boarding action. An hour
after we entered the pattern, we were attached by another drone. We've only been
in-system once before and that was five months ago."
"Conjecture: the Miishakaal is on someone's list. And that someone had
access to the traffic control data. Not only that, but they had the authority
to hold up the line. Making enough time to send the second drone out." Darrurz
nods to the TNS report. "And now we are here. The only reason why we aren't dead
is because the drone came in too close or they didn't think the hull was bonded
superdense."
Mizepsharguliig's jocular tone has faded. "The hold up was indeed a boarding
action. I don't know the details other than it was another suspected attempt to
smuggle weapons to saboteurs on Meliva. I do know that it started at
02:30 and went on for some time due to a firefight. And from what you've
just told me about your arrival time in the line, I also know that it was going
on for a couple of hours before you got in line. So the hold up in the
line had nothing to do with your arrival."
Darrurz doesn't reply to Mizepsharguliig's correction. Instead, he sits down
and rubs the scar on his snout with his paw. "Good luck with your digging,
Lieutenant. If we are on someone's list then you need to stand downwind and
watch for movement. Please let us know what you find out, Lieutenant, because
if we are on someone's list, then they aren't going to make the same mistake
twice."
"Gee, thanks for telling me how to do my job. What would I do without you?"
She makes her way to the door. With her back to the group, she says loud enough
for all to hear, "See you in eight hours for your eyewitness interviews. Try and
get some rest. Being cranky won't do you any good." With that she's out the
door.
Simrii shakes his head as he gets up from his chair. He makes his way to the
other room to find a bunk, but he pauses when he reaches Darrurz. His tone is
even, non-recriminating, when he says, "A bit of advice, friend: You shouldn't
go about making enemies of the people who are trying to keep you out of jail.
It's a bit like pissing on your leg." He resumes his journey to find a bunk to
take a nap.
Gvarokh quietly sighs to himself. Through clenched teeth, in a quiet but stern
voice, he says, "I want to stress the point that we must cooperate with
Lt. Mizepsharguliig and the Navy. We will not be hostile. We will not be rude.
Regardless of what we think, they are probably our only way out of this and
definitely the only way we will ever get the ship back. Let them do their jobs
and give them the information they need. I expect everyone's cooperation."
"And, as the first part of that, we should do as she advises and get some rest."
With that, Gvarokh goes to his bunk and gets as much sleep as he can.
Characters: All
NPC: Chuck, Simrii and Lt.
Mizepsharguliig
Location: Witness Protection Level - Maran Naval
Facility
System: Maran
Most everyone took a nap, grabbed something to eat, and read during the mer
ishuuna (rest period).
Darrurz started it off by trying to cross reference the ships in port to their
last visits and the frequency of visits, but his attempts were rebuffed as the
computer informed him that that information is not available to the public. He
growled at this and then searched the news feeds for anything that stood out in
the shipping news, the markets, or the merchants. Battle damage, pirates,
smugglers etc. He found more than enough information regarding pirate activity
outside of the Maran system (primarily coreward) but not in the system itself.
Smuggling seems to be preoccupied with ruining the neutrality of Meliva and
gaining control of the starport. The situation on Maran has deteriorated with
border skirmishes now quite common. There are over fifty countries divided among
five factions. MSE and Orem Imports are in separate nations that typically spar
with one another. Outright warfare is held in check by the threat of the Vilani
Navy punishing the aggressor.
After reading this material for a while, Darrurz got drowsy and took a nap. When
he woke up four hours later, he looked into CargoNet and PassengerNet to see
who wanted what and where they wanted to go. There seems to be a dearth of
people looking to go coreward. Any freight destined to go coreward is typically
either weapons, parts for vehicles and ships, or food and medicine. Freight in
the other directions is typical.
After taking a nap, Gvarokh researched what he could about Ali Kergida, MSE,
and Malik Kergida. He isn't too happy with what he found. Malik Kergida is a
ruthless character and his position as Defense Minister grants him unquestioned
access and control over the Principality of Murgimdingur's military. The only
person that outranks him is the country's leader, Prince Kharlim, but according
to political commentary journals, Kergida seems to have his ear.
Gvarokh made an effort to research the legal proceedings for situations such as
theirs. Fortunately, the military takes an empirical approach to its judgments.
Gvarokh actually feels confident that the sensor logs will clear them of any
wrongdoing.
Lt. Mizepsharguliig arrives promptly at 16:00 looking refreshed. She informs
everyone that the witness interviews will be easy so long as everyone cooperates
with the investigators. She casts a sidelong glance at Darrurz as she says
this. All the interviews are is an account of the incident from the witness's
point of view. Mizepsharguliig will be there to make sure it doesn't turn into
a fishing expedition.
All goes well with the witness interviews. In turn, each of the crewmembers is
led to the Interrogation Room where they sit at a nondescript table with
Mizepsharguliig at their side. Three people (2 men and 1 woman) sit across the
table. One man does all the talking. Each crewmember is asked their name,
position on board the Miishakaal, and what they saw and heard from when
they entered the system to when they were picked up by the Zasheshudnam.
Since everyone cooperates, the interviews go quickly and smoothly.
Characters: All
NPC: Chuck, Simrii and Lt.
Mizepsharguliig
Location: Witness Protection Level - Maran Naval
Facility
System: Maran
Thirty minutes after the last interview (Gvarokh), Lt. Mizepsharguliig
returns to the room. "There's an old Terran expression, 'I've got good news,
and I've got bad news.'"
"What's the good news?" Chuck asks.
"Your sensor log backs up your story. You're free and clear of any wrongdoing."
A cheer goes up through both rooms.
"So, what's the bad news?" Simrii asks.
"Figuring out why the drone attacked you is proving to be difficult. Plasma from
your power plant melted the computer core, and the sensor and comm logs were
lost. However, based on the evidence at hand, one forensic engineer boldly
stated that the drone didn't malfunction. The others aren't willing to say that
yet."
"What's he basing this on?" Slade asks.
"The drone's weapon system was burned out. Overloaded. As the engineer explained
in his report, the drones aren't designed to do that. There are safety
protocols the drone's AI is supposed to adhere to. One of them is to operate its
laser weapon within the design parameters. It is the engineer's belief that
the safety protocols were overridden in an effort to inflict 'immediate
catastrophic damage.' For what it's worth, the drone shouldn't have been able to
inflict as much damage to your ship as it did with one shot. Since your ship
survived the shot, the drone was then told to ram you, once again, in an effort
to inflict catastrophic damage. Weapon overloading and ramming are not approved
tactics for use with the drones. They cost money. Maybe before the war when the
economy was in great shape they would've been considered disposable, but not
now.
"Unfortunately, it's going to take longer to figure out where those instructions
came from. The investigation now moves to the Recon Drone Operations Center.
They'll try to determine whether or not any commands were sent from there to the
drone.
"I told the investigative committee about your past run in with Kergida and MSE
and gave them all of the pertinent info to back up the allegation. They weren't
happy. I think they'd prefer a malfunctioning drone over espionage."
"So what's the drill now?" Lakir asks. "While the quarters are nice here, we've
got a wounded ship, repairs to assess, and a living to make, as well as an
insurance claim to initiate. Plus somebody around here, with some serious pull,
wants us dead. That pisses me off, more than any of the other components of the
puzzle. Low profile, don't rock the boat, everybody lives to draw a pay check.
But kick 'em in the nuts, when the other side don't wanna play nice. Always been
my philosophy, LT," he offers a sad smile. "Not sure how that plays out in the
current slag fest you've got happen' round these parts."
Before Mizepsharguliig can say anything, Gvarokh speaks up, "I can understand
the preference for a malfunctioning drone, but given the evidence, that isn't
the case. Besides, tell them to look at another way: Someone foolishly revealed
their capabilities by attacking an irrelevant target instead of using it
effectively. The Navy has been given a free pass. You now know this can be done,
so you have a chance to stop it before something catastrophic happens. Your
saboteur completely screwed up.
"If we are correct in who did it, then they totally wasted their surprise shot
for revenge instead of effect and utility. If we are wrong, then they are even
more stupid. Either way, their element of surprise is totally gone. Even if you
can't pin the saboteur, you know they exist, which still gives you an advantage
you didn't have before this."
Mizepsharguliig has been chomping at the bit to reply. "Yes, yes, they realize
the implications of all this. It is quite possible that you were a test case.
If all went well, the organization behind the sabotage would've tried for
something larger in scope. Whoever the saboteur is, they're most likely covering
their tracks as best they can at this point. I know that the committee will be
investigating Kergida, but they can't move against him until they get evidence.
Right now, all they have is motive, but that's enough to legally justify
surveillance."
"Um, since our story is correct, and that really is a sensor drone, will we get
our ship rebuilt? After the full investigation, of course."
Mizepsharguliig goes silent, carefully considering her words. "Lakir mentioned
filing an insurance claim. Do you have insurance?"
Gvarokh sighs. "No, we don't. With the war, rates are..."
"Through the roof. Yes, I know." She pauses, bites her lower lip, then
continues. "It may be a long time before the investigation is completed."
"How long?"
"Weeks or even months. And I wouldn't rule out a year."
"A year?!" A collective groan goes out from the crew.
She winces as she says, "Since malfunction is likely to be officially ruled out
in favor of sabotage, the Navy isn't legally at fault for the damage to your
ship."
"Does that mean we have to stay here the whole time the investigation is going
on?" Chuck asks.
"No," Mizepsharguliig replies. "In fact, you have to leave in the morning."
"Kicked to the curb then," Simrii says.
"There are plenty of hotels and apartments on Meliva."
"Not exactly fortifiable locations when someone wants us dead," Lakir adds.
She nods. "I know, but considering they were unsuccessful in their first
attempt, I think they'll lay low for a while."
"Maybe," Simrii replies, "or maybe they'll try something less exotic, like
bullets."
She sighs. "There's really not a whole lot I can do. I'll talk with my CO,
maybe he has some ideas. In the meantime," she types at her handcomp and the
wallscreen refreshes with 'file uploaded,' "here's the forensic engineer's
inspection video from your ship. It'll save you a trip over to the shipyard.
Delete it when you're done." She heads for the door.
Slade interrupts her departure. "Won't we need to get to the shipyard anyway, to
get our stuff? All of our stuff."
Gvarokh adds, "Yeah, thanks for trying to save us the trip, but we still want
to visit the ship to get our belongings. If we are going to be stuck here for
weeks to a year, we are going to need our stuff. And if we already know that
someone is going to try to kill us, we need our weapons."
"That's going to be a problem. Due to the current political situation, no
weapons are allowed on Meliva, outside of the starport section that is. And even
there, unless they're on your ship, they have to be checked into the Weapons
Storage Space."
Finally, just as the doors open to let her out, Gvarokh asks, "Oh, one more
thing. As we both know, the moment we set foot in public space, the media is
going to be hounding us for information. Is there anything we are legally not
allowed to say?"
"Technically, you can say anything you want. But if you say anything that
jeopardizes the investigation, you'll only prolong it, which means you won't get
reimbursed for the damage done to your ship any time soon." She pauses. "If it
were me, I wouldn't want to stick around in a place where someone tried to kill
me any longer than I had to."
"Well, considering we are going to be here for a year anyway, I don't see where
extra time is going to reduce our chances of getting killed. However, point
taken, especially if we will get reimbursed for the damage done to our ship."
"Good dir, gentlemen." And with that to chew on, she's off.
Next: The Offer