03/10/01
"Never play another person's game. Play your own."-- - Andrew Salter
117-1121.
Trevor has an educational afternoon at Rosa's Cantina - sort of a symposium on b'ar, at the bar. The animals head is wedge-shaped, they have a heavily armored skull and main brain, plus a ganglion cluster between the shoulder blades (lizard brain). And they're surprisingly quiet for huge creatures. They have sort of a greenish-brown tinge to their fur, so they blend, and they're stalkers; not a lot of notice if a person is about to be attacked. Trevor gets some advice on the wrong things to do if one wants to avoid being attacked by a b'ar - don't move quickly or stand still for a long time, or make noise or be too quiet. Uh-huh. B'ar are not native to Sequoyah - some one thought they'd make a good game animal and brought them here from Thorwald or somewhere; what the original name of the animals are is anybody's guess, since "b'ar" is the local name. They are solitary animals except during mating season, and they need a lot of territory. At least there's no risk of running into a pack of the things.
There's some debate as to who's the best b'ar hunter is - Ben or Bob Running Dog, although Bob has given up hunting since the accident. Trevor: "So does Ben have a favorite spot to hunt b'ar?" Charlie: "Well if he does, he's not sharing, the bugger." Sort of like not telling where the best fishing hole is. If the fish were the size of giant sharks, and could eat a man in two bites. After a while longer with the old timers in Rosa's, Trevor returns to the hotel. He gets Gabrielle's message about dinner and goes up to the restaurant, arriving shortly after Mitchell and Malcolm.
Trevor: "I think you can stop taking the Melanin pills!" In the darkened restaurant, it's kind of hard to see Mitchell, who doesn't' seem to find the comment terribly funny. A couple of attractive local girls wave at the table, and when they catch Malcolm's eye and he smiles, the women point at Mitchell. Malcolm may have to kill Mitchell. Damn Navy guy.
A large, fairly familiar-looking man wanders into the restaurant and sits down at the bar. Looks like Bob Running Dog. Only bigger. And not Bob. That would make him Ben, unless they have more brothers no one has mentioned. Time to put the clever plan into play. Trevor: <to Gabrielle> "Maybe you should go to the bar and get us some wine." Gabrielle: "All right." She goes up to the bar, to one side of Running Dog. Mitchell goes over to sit with the pretty girls.
Gabrielle gets the bartender, Jules, into a discussion on what wines the restaurant has available, especially the local ones. Jules: "Well, there's the '08, but then the rains came..." He can go on, and on, and on. Either he's covertly checking a list, or he's quite the expert. Gabrielle asks Jules for his opinions since she doesn't know the local vintages.
Shortly after Mitchell introduces himself to Winona and Kachina, two large, tough-looking young bucks sit down on either side of him. Elan: "You must be lost." This is followed by an inappropriate comment with relation to Mitchell's skin color. Both the young men are over six foot, and are definitely doing the muscle swell thing. Testosterone can be a poison, but it probably won't act quickly enough to save Mitch. Mitchell decides it would be best to leave before things get out of hand. Good choice. Mitchell: "Perhaps we will meet again." He stands, says "the arrogance of youth appears to have lost it's respect for it's elders". He turns around to leave and Langundo grabs him by the shoulder. Langundo: "Don't turn your back on me!" He slaps Mitchell across the face. Langundo: "Pistols or swords? Or perhaps you'd prefer tomahawks?" Mitchell: "Perhaps you'd like to prove you're really a man. No weapons." Langundo: "When and where?" Mitchell: "Let's step outside." They and Elan go down and outside onto the sand. So much for avoiding a fight. Malcolm waits a few moments then gets a bucket of ice and a bar towel before following them down. After a couple of minutes of posturing and stretching, the fight starts. Langundo promptly kicks Mitchell up the side of the head. Langundo: "Come on, get up." Mitchell briefly considers grabbing the stick on the ground next to him, but thinks better of it. Good thing too, since the stick slithers off. Mitchell does get in a solid blow to Langundo's ribs - that boy's well-built. Then it's a hard jab right to the gut, and that almost puts Mitchell down. Langundo then steps back and cedes initiative to Mitchell, who concedes the fight. Or tries to. Langundo: "The fight's over when I say it's over." Mitchell then goes into full bore panic when the snake crawls up his pant leg. Much screaming and leaping and kicking, and the snake hits Langundo in the chest where it sticks for a few seconds then drop off. Malcolm arrives just in time to see Mitchell screech, leap up in the air about three feet, and kick his opponent in the chest. Whoa.
Langundo twitches and falls to the ground as Malcolm runs over to check on the fallen man, who he thinks is the victim of a kick to the heart. Elan is standing there with his jaw hanging in disbelief, and Malcolm tells him to call for medical help. After examining Langundo, who has thrown up, Malcolm finds the small puncture wounds. Now Malcolm is wondering if Mitchell has some sort of poison darts in his boot. The medics come and cart off Langundo, and by the time Mitchell gets back to the restaurant he'll have a rep as a duelist and an off-world martial artist. The Snake
Speaking of the restaurant, while Mitchell is at ground level auditioning for a kung-fu movie, Gabrielle is comparing wines with Jules in a much more civilized fashion. Jules admits that the local wines are not really all that good - there's not much of a wine industry on planet. But the restaurant does have an excellent selection of off-planet wines, and he gives Gabrielle a copy of the wine list, that has quite a few choices from Aquitaine (which exports a lot of luxury goods) - many of the choices are snob appeal wines with fancy labels and bottles, but she does spot a modest Petite Será that usually doesn't make it off planet, and is very reasonably priced. Gabrielle doesn't hint that it's an incredible bargain and orders a bottle. Ben has been chatting with the bartender a bit too, as he's here to resupply and drink Jules' martinis. Ben does listen to the extended wine chat, since it gets very complicated. The closest Gabrielle gets to a reaction out of Ben is a tip of the hat, in a polite fashion. Gabrielle goes back to her table. Gabrielle: <to Trevor> "I'm sorry." Trevor: "That's all okay; some members of our party don't have to think about picking a fight, they just do."
Speaking of which, Mitchell returns and is asked to join the now lonely and defenseless females. And no he doesn't invite Malcolm to join them. He's invited back to their room for a nightcap, a poultice, and a full body massage. Mitchell doesn't have a problem with that, and the selfish bugger leaves with both the women. One of the females is a nurse, and she does seem to know what she's doing. On the other hand, Mitchell is given a mild dose of the local Peyote analog and has a psychedelic good time. It involves two very attractive coyotes, and Mitchell turning into a tree, but all very enjoyable. Simply amazing.
Trevor watches Mitchell leave with the women. Trevor: "He gets into trouble, drags us into this, and now he's off getting laid! And to top it all off, he picks a fight with the wrong man." Gabrielle: "I'm sorry. I did find a very good wine though." Trevor: "Well, that's something." He has some experience with good liquor, thanks to his bodyguarding work. It's a good wine even if you don't like wine. Very plain label, no fancy bottle - it's not the wine you drink to impress some one, it's what you drink for enjoyment. Trevor: <looking towards the bar> "We've go to do something now!" Ben's taking his time, savoring his martini, asks for another olive. Trevor is going to wait until Ben has had at least two martinis before trying to pick a fight. Gabrielle is at a loss at how to provoke a fight, not having any experience in this, so she's not much help.
Trevor goes up to the bar and orders another bottle of wine from the bartender. Trevor: <to Ben> "You look familiar, I think I might have met your brother. Are you one of the Running Deer family?" Ben: "Running Dog." Trevor: "Oh yeah, sorry. Your brother said you were off b'ar hunting. I and my group are looking for a guide to take us on a hunt. Not necessarily b'ars, maybe something more challenging." Ben: "Have any experience hunting? Sit down. Only thing is, I have to be somewhere in a few days so I can only give you a short hunt unless you want to schedule it for afterwards?" Trevor: "I think a short hunt will do." Ben gives Trevor's upper arm a test squeeze. Ben: "Let's see your hands." Trevor complies. Ben: "I think you'll do. The rest of the party like you? I'm not too keen on taking out a bunch of soft tourists out into the woods." Trevor: "We do have one Navy guy. He's the one who just picked a fight with that martial artist, so he's pretty tough for a Navy guy." Ben: "Well, anyone who can take on Langundo is okay. Yeah, sure. I'll take you. Where are you staying?" Trevor gives him the room number, and Ben takes out his pocket organizer and beams a list of gear to Trevor's terminal. Ben: "You'll need to pick up some gear - the list is on the terminal in your room. We'll leave at 4:00 a.m. Be packed and ready to go." Great. Now where did Mitchell get to? Ben: "Now there's just a matter of cost. What do you want to hunt?" Trevor: "B'ar." Ben: "Five hundred Solars a day." He extends his hand, and Trevor shakes it. Done deal. Trevor: "Has anyone hunted b'ar with a shotgun?" Ben: "Oh sure. The problem is penetration. The skull's about 6" thick and armored." Trevor: "How about a large slug?" Ben: <thinking> "Maybe with saboted slug." All right then. Trevor returns to the table to inform the rest of the party (Malcolm's back) of his success.
Trevor can order the gear on line and have the concierge store it over night. Nothing too outré on the list (mostly stuff like outdoor clothing and footwear), but it does include an "unspecified firearm of at least .40 caliber". There are several outdoors/sportsman supplies places that run 24 hours a day and will deliver anywhere on the planet within hours. Trevor can get pretty much any kind of ammo he wants through one of the local gun shops (not in Abilene in the middle of the night, but it can be sent via mag-lev from DownPort). He orders a four bore rifle and a box of explosive rounds for the last ditch effort. Malcolm is looking for rifles and ammo. Trevor passes on some of the information he got at Rosa's and from Ben. Trevor: "...and a lizard brain between their shoulders, so it can still do you damage even after you've blown off it's head." Charming. Gabrielle: "What time will you be leaving?" Trevor: "About 4:00 in the morning. I think you should come too. We might still need an excuse to challenge him." Darn.
118-1121.
At 3 o'clock in the morning, there is a lot of pounding and laughing at Malcolm's door. Then giggles and the sound of people running away. Malcolm opens the door and sees a totally wasted Mitchell on the floor, buck naked, painted in war paint (in areas one does not usually use war paint). Malcolm goes inside, comes out with his camera and takes a picture of Mitchell before bringing him inside along with the pile of clothing they women had left beside him. Malcolm puts a sheet down on the sofa before dropping Mitchell onto it and going back to bed.
The wake-up call rings about 10 minutes after Malcolm's return to bed. Argh. Mitchell: "This is not my room." But he has clothing. The tourist guide suggests a pharmacological fix for exposure to neo-peyote, which Malcolm has delivered to the room. He gives the curative and a glass of water to Mitchell, who instantly goes from still soaring to stone cold sober and feeling like he's been in fight. Good thing the nurse actually medicked him before the recreational activities last night. Malcolm suggests Mitchell use the fresher and get cleaned up. Lucky for Mitchell the war paint was put on with simple makeup. He emerges from the fresher feeling much more human.
Malcolm: "Time to get dressed and get moving." Mitchell: "Where are we going? Back to Bob's?" Malcolm: "We're going hunting with Ben." Mitchell: "Really? What are we hunting?" Trevor: "B'ar." Mitchell: "And who's bright idea was that?? If Ben doesn't kill us the b'ars will!" Malcolm: "The jury is still out over who Trevor's working for." As the party gathers, Trevor explains that Ben is going back to the hills until he's ready to vote, and they need to go with him. Oh, all right.
Time to pack up and go. Fortunately, Trevor has done a decent job with the ordering. Not much time is needed to get ready. The weapons have been delivered as well. Trevor's is huge - picture two drain pipes put on a stock. Since it's a Paradox gun, it comes with extra barrels for fowling as well. Great; now he just needs a flock of roc or baselisk or something big enough to not be disintegrated by the big herking gun. Ben shows up on time to help with baggage. He's wearing his casual woodland attire - nothing looks newer than ten years. Mitchell: "Will we be going anywhere where we could do some fishing? The b'ar hunt is his <indicating Trevor> idea." Ben: "There's fishing all over the place." Trevor is fuming internally, since he doesn't want to hunt the damn b'ar either! He wanted to pick a fight in the lounge last night, but Ben insisted on drinking his martini politely and not hitting on Trevor's date.
After a lengthy drive, with Gabrielle up front between Ben and Malcolm, the sun starts to come up. Mitchell manages to get a bit of rest, if not real sleep. Malcolm on the other hand can sleep anywhere, under almost any conditions. Up and up and up and up. It gets green and lush, and starts to look like the area leading up the Eagles' Nest, but then they turn off into the less travelled areas and it gets really bumpy. At about 10 o'clock they arrive at the spot Ben has selected for camp, which is pitched. B'ar aren't usually on the move during the afternoon, just in the morning and evening. If they're hunting. And since they're omnivores, they pretty much hunt everything. Mitchell: "Do I have time to get in some fishing before the b'ar start prowling?" Ben: "Yeah, but you're probably going to want to sight in first." Mitchell has Malcolm give him the remedial lessons on one of the high tech military gauss rifles they had sent over from the ship (one of Capeletti's guns). Trevor has the enormous weapon that could be used for a diggeridoo. After some basic lessons, Mitchell goes fishing. Malcolm then sights in his double gauss rifle. It does have quite a kick, since it's a lightweight weapon. The word brutal comes to mind. Trevor's gun weighs 14 pounds and Trevor's a big guy, so it's not as bad on his end. Ben has people sight in at 40 yards because of the brush and the small size of the brain. Ben even has little targets of the appropriate size, etc., and has a little surpressed .22 to get used to hitting the target. Ben drills Trevor and Malcolm for a couple of hours, and he will act as back up. Ben will tell the hunters when and if to take the shot, and when do run. Ben: "If I say shoot or run, don't think - do. If the b'ar is wounded, I'll go after it." That has good potential for a way to get rid of Ben. A hunting accident, they happen all the time.
A few hours later, Mitchell comes back into camp with two 15 pound trout. Malcolm: "The salmon are running?" Nope! Trout for dinner thanks to the incredible fishing prowess of Captain Taylor; maybe it's a Navy thing. Ben: "We'll go out here in a couple of hours, so eat up." He's dug up some local onions, etc. and grills up a great dinner. Then it's time to make sure no one jingles, and everyone gets sprayed with something that says "don't eat me".
Off into the woods. Gabrielle and Mitchell plan to just stay out of everyone's way and do what Ben says. Ben points out local wild life along the way - deer, elk, rabbits. They find a wide trail that's been broken by something really big, and fairly recently (in the last few days). It makes walking easier, and it's definitely a b'ar trail according to the native guide. Ben: "This is where we need to be careful. B'ar will make a trail and wait at the end for game." Mitchell and Gabrielle question the sanity of going down the damn trail then, but keep it to themselves. After several hours, Ben announces that it's getting dark and it's time to go back. Ben: "We know he's here. We'll try again in the morning." They head back towards camp, with Trevor in the rear. The sudden warm moist breeze on the back of his neck makes Trevor pivot with his gun up, but nothing's there. Trevor: "Freeze." The party stops. Trevor looks around, but finds nothing. Several times on the way back Trevor gets the feeling they're being followed
The party makes it back to the camp intact, if a bit jumpy. Ben: "No one goes outside of the campfire area after dark." No shit! He sets up tripwires connected to flares and noisemakers, just in case. Ben: "They usually don't come into camp, unless it's a man-eater." Lovely thought. Dinner, clean up, then into the sleeping bags in the big tent. Good thing they're all tired.
119-1121.
Mitchell wakes up in the morning to find some one has put a stick in the bag with him. Stick? Oh bugger, he's attracted another snake! Mitchell can't get out of the sleeping bag by himself without disturbing the snake, which is something he's trying to avoid. Everyone in the tent is asleep, but Mitchell notices Ben is not there, and there's sound of movement in the camp. Mitchell: "Uh, Ben?" Ben: <coming back into the tent> "Yeah?" Mitchell: "I'm not alone in my sleeping bag. There's a snake in here with me." Ben: "Let's have a look." He quickly unzips the sleeping bag, grabs the snake and tosses it away. Ben: "They're sluggish when it's cold. Funny, you don't see vipers up this high, usually." He was attracted to the reputation of the Snake. Mitchell: "I think I'll get up and go fishing." Ben: "Time to get up any way. Breakfast's ready." Mitchell: "Oh, time for the morning hunt?" Ben: "That's right." It's oh-dark-30, and everyone staggers up to eat. Coffee's hot and there's plenty of it, and heavily caffeinated, thank God.
Back to where they left off last night, along the b'ar trail. Ben: "Well this is interesting. Looks like our b'ar has a friend. B'ar don't usually like other b'ar in their territory, but there are two sets of prints." Trevor: "It's not mating season is it?" Ben: "No. And from the size of the tracks I'd say it's another male." Oh goodie!
As they continue, Trevor steps on something that snaps in an odd way. He looks down to find bones that have been crunched up. Trevor: "There's a kill here." The rest of the party go over to check, although Gabrielle hangs back. On closer inspection of the remains, they find a boot and part of a skull. The latter has been popped open and the inside was eaten. Human kill. Now what was it Ben had said about man-eaters...?
Trevor: "Any hunting parties missing that you know of?" Ben: "No. Those are off-world boots though. Damn fool probably came up by himself." He looks around and finds a .600 Nitro Express, intact, on the ground, across the clearing from the kill. Trevor: "Great - lets take it." There are spent cartridges around. Trevor: "Oh great, that means we might have a wounded b'ar up here." As Malcolm is looking at the remains he glances over and sees a greenish-brown mountain rise up behind Ben. Malcolm: <bringing up his rifle> "On your six!" The other party members see the even more huge b'ar rising up behind Malcolm. If the first b'ar was a mini-van, the second one is the full sized take the whole basketball team kind of van. There's an explosion off of Malcolm's side as Trevor hits the b'ar in the shoulder. Malcolm hits his target in the heart; even if b'ar have more than one heart, it's still a good hit. Gabrielle is frozen in place as the b'ars roar. She's a city girl.
Gabrielle has been staying close to Ben, and she has a great view of the upper part of Ben's body disappearing into the b'ar's mouth, as the huge animal snaps it's jaws shut, leaving just the lower torso and legs. Eventually Gabrielle will remember to breathe. Mitchell, in a fit of adrenaline, fires full-auto into the b'ar behind Malcolm. The b'ar is hit, but not anywhere vital, and it still manages to swipe Malcolm in the back, sending him flying. That b'ar runs off, probably to regroup or get friends or something. The other b'ar is happily doing the shark shake as it works on getting the large chunk of Ben down. Gabrielle is now treated to the sight of Ben's body parts being juggled around in the b'ars mouth. The rifle in her hands is forgotten.
Mitchell's rifle is empty so he claws his pistol out of its holster, accidentally firing before it clears. That adrenaline thing again. Malcolm snatches up his rifle (he dropped it when he flew through the air) and gets a snap shot off at the remaining b'ar, hitting it in one of its six legs. The b'ar runs off, still munching. Malcolm pries Gabrielle's hands off the rifle and takes it away from her to give to Mitchell. Trevor picks up Ben's remaining remains and Ben's rifle (Gabrielle is given the single shot falling block to carry) and they move out towards camp.
Fortunately Malcolm has wilderness survival, so after a few false starts they follow their own tracks back to camp, which has been trashed rather thoroughly, and there's blood in the area. The wounded, really annoyed b'ars have been here, and they've taken their frustration out on the vehicle and rolled it over repeatedly while biting the tires. The cab is trashed and the steering wheel is gone, but hey, a substitute can be made! While Malcolm and Trevor look for a way to fix the steering issue, Gabrielle goes off to one side of the camp to throw up. This rouses the b'ar, which rises up and lunges for her with bits of clothing and other matter hanging from it's mouth. Gabrielle manages a squeak as she backs up and tries to bring up the rifle. This has the attention of the entire group, who fire on the b'ar. Trevor hits a paw with an explosive round just as it swipes at Gabrielle. Mitchell fires the rifle at the b'ar, full auto again, hitting it repeatedly. Malcolm fires on and hits the b'ar also, but still it doesn't go down and continues towards Gabrielle, who manages to fire Ben's rifle, hitting the b'ar in the center of mass. The b'ar looks like it's gone berserk. It's snapping it's teeth and flailing at nothing in particular, but still moving. Gabrielle continues to back away and pull the trigger (no ammo left but it seems to make her feel better). Mitchell, after firing off all the ammo from the second gauss rifle while standing on the truck, hears a snuffle behind him. [B'ar for "Now you're out of ammo"?] Malcolm fires on the active b'ar, hitting it but not in an immediately fatal area. Mitchell evades, using the truck as cover, but the b'ar does catch him on the side of the head with a claw. Also not fatal, but really bloody. Trevor fires on the other b'ar, which finally falls over, twitching.
After chasing Mitchell and trying to demolish the truck, the larger b'ar manages to impale its head on an axle while charging. The men hastily reload, and get closer to take out the b'ar before it finishes wrecking the truck. Trevor hits it in the lizard brain with the explosive ammo. Malcolm shoots the other b'ar in the back of the head, even though it's bleeding out. No one in the group is going to near the cooling bodies - just in case. The truck is bent in the middle and the axle is broken, so it's not going any where. Ben did have a radio, but it's in the truck, in pieces. On the other hand, the liquor bottles are all intact, and people could really use a drink. Malcolm patches up Mitchell's injury, and Trevor disinfects Malcolm's back. Gabrielle is still pulling the trigger on the empty gun, but she does eventually stop when she has to sit down. Her shoulder really hurts now, and is probably dislocated.
No radio, no vehicle, injured people with no way off the mountain. Not good. Trevor remembers the other dead hunter they found - he must have had a camp somewhere nearby, and may have had a radio. No one is going to stay with the dying b'ars alone, so they all stagger off together. Doing a spiral search locates the other hunters' camp, which has also been trashed. There are other bodies in the camp, all with off-world clothing. And there's a cell-phone in the car!! The authorities are called, and a stern lecture is received on being in a no vehicle zone. Trevor: "Well, we didn't drive to this area, and if you come pick us up, you can fine us." About 45 minutes later a large grav-vehicle arrives with a forest ranger and several medics. Trevor and Malcolm explain about the dead hunters, and how people were injured, and about their guide being killed by a b'ar. Malcolm: "Our camp is back that way, with the dead b'ar. B'ars, actually." Trevor: "Two of them. Hunting together." Ranger: "But they never do that." Malcolm: "Go check out our camp." Medic: "We can sort all of that out later. You should all get checked out. <looking at the uninjured Gabrielle> And your friend looks like she's in shock." Seeing people eaten will do that.
The party members are taken to the hospital and medicked. Gabrielle is visited by a nice, calm man, who gives her some pills that makes everything feel very distant. Much better. The party is scanned to ensure no one has any internal injuries. The doctors have a discussion about Gabrielle's scans, off in a little group muttering to themselves. Doctor: "...didn't see anything." No one in the party hears the conversation.
Bob comes to the hospital to see the party. Trevor: "We're really sorry about your brother, man." Bob: "It's the way he would have wanted to go." EATEN?!?! He would have wanted to be eaten?? Guess it's all part of the circle of life thing.
120-1121.
The party is discharged, and invited to the 'services' for Ben. First a lot of drinking and stories at Rosa's, then up the hill to Ben's pyre, then back down for more drinking with the warrior brothers, who invite the men to the sweat lodge. Mitchell doesn't want to go. He wants to go back to the nice, normal ship. Gabrielle goes with him. Dr. Neil seems much more attractive now. (No, not in that way.)
Mitchell and Gabrielle arrive back at the ship with no problems. Dr. Neil: "Are you all right?" Mitchell: "We're fine now." Dr. Neil: <to Gabrielle> "My dear, are you sure you're all right? You look like you've had a terrible shock. I heard all about what happened. Would you like me to make you a cup of tea?" Gabrielle: "That would be nice, thank you." Dr. Neil sits her down, wraps her in a blanket, and brings her tea. Sort of like having a SolSec interrogator as an aunt, but it's rather calming. The whole b'ar thing was a bit much for Gabrielle.
Megan is glad to have Mitchell back, even if he has gotten a bit, um, swarthy. Mitchell: "Has everything gone all right here?" Megan: "Yes. Dr. Neil pretty much kept to himself the entire time; I can't believe anyone could read that much." She is a bit worried about her thighs, though (unnecessarily), so Mitchell takes her out for a walk and an off-ship meal.
121-1121.
Trevor and Malcolm have stayed behind to bond with the "brother warriors" of the late Ben Running Dog. And Trevor is hatching a little plan...
Trevor goes into press-teasing mode, saying he's going to speak at the assembly tomorrow about Ben. He pumps up the people who watch tri-dee with promises of the grizzly grisly details of Ben's death. What is he up to, and what is the Ephor (not to mention Trevor's boss, Dr. Neil) going to think? And what about the rest of the party - no advance warning? Malcolm doesn't even know what Trevor's up to, but he's distracted by his own attempts to stir up the late Mr. Running Dog's brother warriors into fighting the trade agreement that Ben opposed. The two rabble-rousers have gone off on their own, without proper supervision.
122-1121.
Time for the debate of the new treaty. The Ephor gives a fine speech, even mentioning Ben Running Dog. He does a good job, and has a great deal of experience with this sort of thing. A bit reserved, but he knows how to reach people. When Kellerman leaves the podium, he stops to speak with Trevor. Ian: "We must get together and talk, about your future. I foresee a bright one." Yeah, for about the next 30 seconds.
Dr. Neil has had the speeches on the tri-dee to listen to his half-brother, then he goes back to his books. Gabrielle and Mitchell are still watching when Trevor gets up and invokes the ghost of Benjamin Running Dog. Mitchell and Gabrielle: "What's Trevor doing?" Trevor: "...how he always fought for the planet..." He goes on and on and on, going off on the same bent that Ben would have. Trevor has gone right off his nut or something. Gabrielle: "Dr. Neil? What is Trevor doing??" Dr. Neil looks up at the tri-dee and listens for a moment. Dr. Neil: "He appears to be giving a eulogy." He goes back to reading. Trevor's speech continues in a much more political vein. Gabrielle: "Um, Dr. Neil, I'm not sure how your half-brother will take this." Mitchell: "Maybe we should leave." Dr. Neil: "Well, this makes things interesting. May you live in interesting times." He's rather amused. Mitchell: "Are you sure we can't just leave?" No, they can't just leave without Trevor and Malcolm. Mitchell: "Wasn't it Trevor who called me flamboyant a while ago? There are times where flamboyance is appropriate; this is not one of those times."
Trevor's speech is very impassioned, and successful. The motion to accept the treaty goes down in defeat. The Ephor makes no attempt to speak with Trevor, and leaves with his bodyguards. Running Dog's clan members try to convince Trevor to stay when he goes to return to the ship. Brave: "You can't leave." Trevor: "Why not?" Brave: "There's so much more you can do. You've taken on the mantle of Ben Running Dog." Trevor: "No. I'm not from this planet. I don't know what the people of this planet want or need. I spoke for Ben, because he wasn't here to speak for himself." Impassioned pleas follow, but no one will force Trevor to stay if he wants to leave.
Malcolm and Trevor return to the ship. Mitchell: "Now can we leave?" Gabrielle: "Dr. Neil, have you been able to complete what you wanted to do here?" Dr. Neil: "Yes, matters have been attended to." Off to Tarsus. Who gets the epiphany?
Mitchell makes sure he has clearance and that everything is done by the books. But it's not the planetary authorities he should be worried about. Once off the surface and heading out to the jump-point, the ship receives radio contact from the Heavy Cruiser Alexander to heave to and prepare to be boarded. Mitchell: " Dr. Neil? It's your trip." Dr. Neil: "You're the captain. I don't know what our options are." Mitchell: "We could try to run and get shot to shit, or we could try to make the jump now, at only ten diameters out." Dr. Neil: "And what would be the odds if we were to do that?" Mitchell: "We might make it. Maybe 50-50. Or less." Malcolm: "We don't even know who's in command of the cruiser." Dr. Neil: "It's a Solomani ship. There will be factions. Some may even be on our side." The decision is made to not try to run. Mitchell acknowledges the order to heave to, and follows instructions to cut the engines completely.
The smaller vessel is taken into a large hold of the 50,000 ton cruiser, and the ship is surrounded by Solomani Marines. Malcolm: 'They do have intelligent life here!" Marines board and escort the party out of the ship, then carefully search them for weapons. None - they're all properly stowed.
The group is escorted to what would be the admiral's quarters if the Alexander were operating as a flagship. No admiral though, just the frelling Ephor. Ian: "Please, sit down and join me. I was just about to dine." Not much of a choice, so they do. Ian: "How fortunate that we're all going the same way." Gabrielle: "You're going to Tarsus?" (Sheer optimism, that.) Ian: "No, we're going to Polyphemus. I told you we would be seeing you again. May I offer you a glass of this lovely Petite Será I found on planet? I think you'll find it an excellent vintage." Gabrielle: "Yes, and a very good value. They didn't know what they had." Ian: "I've found that is often the case." Just the party, the Ephor of Polyphemus, and a few of his secret police. At least Mitchell is happy to be back on board a ship. Mitchell asks if he can get replacement ID. Ian: "Oh yes, you'll need that. You're going back to civilization." They've completely eliminated the use of currency on Polyphemus. Not that Mitchell is likely to be going shopping any time soon.
The party is considered "special" passengers, being transported in a sort of quarantine. Mitchell isn't allowed to meet the captain or see the bridge. The group is taken to their own little section of the ship, under the watch of the Krypteia. Lovely. Just bloody lovely. The party will have their own area to exercise in, and cabins to sleep in, and their personal effects of a non-dangerous nature (clothing, etc.) will be brought over from their ship. This includes Dr. Neil's books, so he should be fine for the week in jump. Mitchell has a deck beneath his feet again, so he's at least partially happy. Malcolm won't be happy until he hunts down the man who recommended the trip to the Rim. Trevor is nonplused about the whole thing, but damned if he was going to just let the Ephor get his way entirely. Gabrielle doesn't want to go to Polyphemus, and is not happy at all. It will probably get worse what with sleeping alone in a strange bed, and odd noises that sound rather like bones being crunched...