Shady Characters

Now landed, passengers (save Katelyn, the spy, who would remain in her hypersleep pod, to be awakened when they knew what to do with her) and cargo offloaded, the Crew hit the planetary network and set about finding what could be easily found about their intruder’s contacts on Porozlo. They found little mention of Juno Radhlin, but former Imperial Navy officer, Gerhard Kansii, had a residence in the outer section of the startown—and that was pretty much all they could find. Presuming him to be a shadowy sort, due to his association with a known spy-type, the Crew decided to hit the streets and see what they could find lurking in the startown’s underworld. After some hours of consorting with various shady characters, the Crew came out with a name, Fredii, and a meeting scheduled at a seedy bar somewhere in the startown. They figured it was best to have everyone present at the meeting in case a decision needed making; Buck elected to remain behind to watch over the ship, but sent Jones in his stead (he decided better of sending trigger-happy Smith).

The bar was a wretched hive of scum and villainy, as they often are in a typical crowded startown. The Crew entered; the Aslan doorman “advised” Haank to keep his sidearm, which he carried openly, in its holster. The bar was packed full of all manner of sapient creatures. Upon inquiry, they were pointed to Fredii’s usual corner, and spotted him there. As they approached, he looked up from his illicit drugs and female company and acknowledged the Crew’s presence, inviting them to join him. Ella and Abe did most of the talking, asking Fredii what he knew about Gerhard, while trying to keep the true nature of their interest, the OSD, out of the story; for context, they revealed that an associate of Gerhard had attempted to kill them over some unknown issue. During the conversation, the others kept a wary eye for incoming trouble. Reluctant at first, but more amenable after some funds were discreetly exchanged, Fredii admitted he did know Gerhard as an arms smuggler, and offered to set up a meeting. The Crew was not really looking to meet the guy, but decided it would be the best way—perhaps only—to learn what manner of mess they had landed in, and gave Fredii their landing pad number to contact them once the meeting was arranged. Done with business, Sam decided to remain at the bar and carouse with the locals, while Haank took a few minutes to buy an Aslan patron a drink, and practice his Trokh—still rusty.

Afterward, everyone went back to the ship for the night. In addition to the potential of betrayal, there was a fear that, as a smuggler, Gerhard might require some sort of illegal shipment as payment for any information, which much of the Crew were strongly against. The next day, the Crew went about their usual at-liberty routines; Haank took advantage of the “normal” atmosphere and generally civilized state to go play a round of golf, in the actual outdoors, for a change. The call from Fredii came later in the day; the meeting with Gerhard was set for the evening, in the startown’s industrial district, at a nondescript warehouse. They did what research they could on the area, to get an eye for the terrain, and set out in the air/raft, prepared for potential combat (armored, and packing sidearms). Again, Buck held down the fort with Smith, and sent Jones in his place.

The Crew arrived early, and surveilled the warehouse area. Not long after, on time, the other party to the meeting arrived, setting down their speeder in a nearby enclosure, and unlocking the padlocked gate. The Crew approached the gate on foot, and were allowed to enter; they were stopped, and checked for transmissions—none were found. The other party’s leader spoke up, and asked what this was about. Ella spoke for the group, and explained the situation again—bearing in mind the earlier story given to Fredii, about the attempted murder of one of the crew (not, strictly, true)—but she was unwilling to come out and say, directly, why the spy might want anyone of them dead. The leader was understandably confused about how to answer without any details. He asked for a name, and Ella gave him the name, Katelyn; that name triggered a reaction from the man, and he demanded to know her whereabouts and condition. Haank noticed a shift in the man’s body-language that suggested he knew very well what was going on, now, though his line of questioning was meant to lead them to believe otherwise. Very reluctantly, Ella revealed that Katelyn was being held at the ship, safe and unharmed, in hypersleep. The man insisted on speaking to her as soon as possible. Still reluctant, but without any obvious alternatives, Ella agreed to allow him to speak to her. As she and the rest of the Crew turned to go see to it, the man politely insisted that one of them remain behind, in his custody, as insurance; Jones volunteered.

The Crew, minus Jones, returned to the ship, and Abe set about waking up their captive. Still in her sleep-pod, she was handed a commlink—the voice on the other end claimed to be Gerhard, and asked her many knowing questions about the situation, which she answered openly: she informed him the Crew had the Proud Mary, and probably had “the data” in their possession, though she had not located it, and that “they already know too much.” When they finished, Haank took the commlink to speak to Gerhard on behalf of the Crew: he suggested, after some coaxing, that they “might” have the OSD, and might be willing to give it up, if conditions were found to be favorable; Haank revealed that steps had been taken to see the data given to “all interested parties” should something unsavory happen to the Crew, though Gerhard was suspicious (to a small degree, justifiably, as the only steps that had, thus far, been taken were to make copies); both sides were willing to do a good-faith hostage exchange, but Gerhard insisted the OSD be handed over at the same time, rather than Haank’s suggestion of separate exchanges. Then they began negotiating the time and place of the exchange…

Notes

• Fredii is a character borrowed from another of our campaigns, specifically Shadowrun
• In both situations, Fredii and Gerhard’s crew, the players were struggling with the need for more information about what the mystery coordinates contained on the OSD might mean, and the desire to keep their possession of the OSD close-to-the-vest—deliberation on what to say/not say took up a lot of game-time