08/03/01

"Government is not reason. Government is not eloquence. It is force. And, like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master!" - George Washington

230ish-1121.

And what of Trevor?

The grav-ball game suddenly goes off the air. Trevor frantically checks to make sure the set is properly connected, then he decides to check on the cable connection. When he goes back to the main house to look, he sees strange men in the house. But it's not his place, so that's not unusual. What is unusual is the fact that the men are armed, wearing balaclavas, and carrying around some sort of sensing apparatus. Trevor decides to run away. Man: "I've got movement!"

Trevor takes off running, but there are many men and they seem to know where he's going. That's just not fair. Trevor tries to just lose them in the huge estate, which is not easy. "Halt!", then noises of something firing at him. Trevor runs at the men down the hall. He hits one of the men as the latter fires. The man bounces off the wall like a rag doll. Trevor was going to use the guy as a shield, but he knocked the poor bugger about twenty feet down the hall. He feels pin pricks up and down his back. He darts around a corner, and the men give him some room, probably because they don't want to tossed twenty feet down the hall. Trevor feels groggy, and there's a sweet taste in his mouth.

Some time later Trevor wakes up with a bit of a headache. As it turns out, this is shortly after the meeting with the shadow man, and after Gabrielle is taken off to be given the antigen. Malcolm is recruited to speak with the newly conscious Trevor. Shadowman: "We don't want to frighten your friend, as we know what happened to Miss Vanek when she was frightened. We think it would be best if one of you speak with him and explain" Malcolm: "I'll go." He's taken to where Trevor has been restrained, for his safety and that of others. These guys use spun fiber cable chains, not those flimsy metal ones. Malcolm: <to Trevor> "Getting right to the point, to start off with what you have is a virus. But it's a virus our associate Dr. Neil was behind. He was trying to make a perfect soldier, fast, strong, hard to damage, quick to heal." Trevor: "Sounds like the perfect grav-ball player." Malcolm: "You're fast, you're strong, but you're not exactly going to blend." Trevor: "It's not like I've got a choice." Malcolm: "The process is reversible." Trevor: "Ah, that's the good news then!" Trevor is extended the same offer as Gabrielle - the antigen without any strings, then he'll have to decide about the offer of employment. He accepts.

239-1121.

Trevor wakes up feeling like he's been beaten up by the gang down at the pool hall a day or two ago. His bruises are fading. He was put into Russian Sleep for his safety and that of the medical staff when his reactions to the antigen became very violent, which means he feels like hell but doesn't remember what happened (lucky devil). Now that he's conscious and human again, he's wheeled out of his room for a meeting. Trevor sees Gabrielle waiting as he goes in for an interview. He looks even worse than Gabrielle, especially since she's using a cane and Trevor is using a wheelchair.

Trevor is wheeled into a room with the classic man in the shadows, bright lights, the usual. Shadow Man: "Mr. Cavernon." Trevor: "Yes." Shadow Man: "I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance. I take it that Mr. Edwards has explained to you everything that has transpired?" Trevor: "Not everything." Shadow Man: "The untimely demise of Dr. Neil, his inhuman experiments, and his plan to sell the virus as a weapon..." Trevor: "Won't his brother be upset?" Shadow Man: "That will require some delicate handling, but the Ephor wasn't that fond of his half-brother" Trevor: "His brother is nothing if not careful. You'd be best off sticking as close to what actually happened as possible." Shadow Man: "Very perceptive. Vis avis you. You are now privy to info we have no desire to make available to anyone outside those who have a need to know. So what are we to do with you, Mr. Cavernon? You know to much, as it were." Trevor: "The problem isn't knowing too much, it's potentially telling too much." Shadow Man: "That would be the concern, yes. The question is, how do we deal with this problem?" Trevor: "You could kill me, but if your enemies produce evidence that could backfire too. You could mem-wipe me, and depending on how old the memories are, that might work. I might become a vegetable, and no use to anyone, and somebody might go looking for an answer if I were to suddenly show up brain damaged." Shadow Man: "Come, come Mr. Cavernon. We both know that no one will miss you. Do you think your friend Officer Oshida would come looking for you?" Trevor: "He might. Or if not him, some one else. Do you want to take that chance?" Shadow Man: "There is a third option. You could join us..." Trevor: "And who would 'us' be?" Shadow Man: "You are a trained investigator. Who do you think we are?" Trevor: "You could be Solsec or Party. You could even be Dr. Neil's investors, who got concerned when he got out of hand." Shadow Man: "If we were, we wouldn't be having this conversation, and we certainly wouldn't have rescued you and your companions." Trevor: "That probably means that you're SolSec, but you could also be Solomani Party." Shadow Man: "The need arises, on occasion, for shall we say, operatives who are outside of the normal bureaucracy. Outside the normal chain of command so to speak." Trevor: "Deniable, you mean." Shadow Man: "That's one way of putting it. However, understanding that such a position is precarious, you'll find that the renumeration is quite good. You've been working on the outside for a long time, wouldn't you like to be inside again, so to speak? We can make it worth your while." Trevor: "That has never been a consideration. Now if you had said it was for the good of the Confederation, that would be a different matter." Shadow Man: "It is for the good of the Confederation. The Confederation has many enemies, and we are sworn to defend it from those enemies, whether the they come from within or without." Trevor: "You must be SolSec. If you were Party you never would have admitted there were enemies on the inside." Shadow Man: "You're quick on the uptake. Some one like you would be very valuable." Trevor: "If I were to work for you, that might conflict with my day job, so to speak. Would you expect me to drop everything and run off on a mission?" Shadow Man: "There may be occasions where we would need that." Trevor: "If your job requires me to destroy my professional reputation, I would expect you to compensate me to for the future loss of income that would inevitably result. To put it bluntly, I'm a bodyguard. If you're mission were to require me to leave my principle vulnerable or kill him, I'd expect you to pay my future salary for life." Shadow Man: "Join our family, and I can promise you that you won't have to worry about that. And at this point, if you agree, we will arrange for the little incident on Vantage to be taken care of." Trevor: "What little incident on Vantage?" Shadow Man: "Actually it primarily involves Captain Taylor, but you are named as an accessory." Trevor: "How?! I wasn't anywhere near him until afterwards." Shadow Man: "That doesn't seem to have deterred the people who arranged things. You have enemies, Mr. Cavernon. Powerful enemies. Now might be a good time to consider acquiring some powerful allies." Trevor: "Like you." Shadow Man: "Well? Shall I welcome you on board, or do you need more time?" Trevor: "No. I'm on board." Shadow Man: "Excellent. I'll arrange for you to meet your manager." Trevor is taken out.

Gabrielle is brought in next. The Shadow Man again, and another man. " Shadow Man: "Well, Miss Vanek, have you made a decision?" Gabrielle: "Why is he here?" Shadow Man: "The doctor? Well, you have just been through a trying week. For your safety, of course. I'm sorry, does he make you nervous? Doctor why don't you wait outside?" Gabrielle: "I'm sorry doctor, it's nothing personal. It's just that with everything that's happened..." Doctor: "Of course, I should have thought of that. Excuse me." He goes outside to the hallway. Shadow Man: "I don't mean to rush you, but events move along." Gabrielle: "I have a question." Shadow Man: "Ask." Gabrielle: "You mentioned Marco Capeletti." Shadow Man: "General Capeletti, yes." Gabrielle: "You implied that the relationship I had with him would be useful." Shadow Man: "And?" Gabrielle: "Do you believe that he had anything to do with Dr. Neil's ...project?" Shadow Man: "That's not really a concern of yours." Gabrielle: "It is if you intend to use me to set him up for something he didn't do." Shadow Man: "We have nothing that suggests General Capeletti had any knowledge of Dr. Neil's activities. As to his usefulness, there may come a time when our aid to you, should you find yourself in a precarious position would be dangerous to provide. Cultivating a friend like General Capeletti might be useful to you in the future. Now. This is a yes or no question. There are no provisos. It's not too late to choose the normalization. I'm sure General Capeletti would still enjoy your company, perhaps more so." Gabrielle: "That's both amusing and stupid. But the answer is yes." Shadow Man: "Let's not pretend. I'm not here to make friends with you. But you could be of use to the Confederation." Gabrielle: "Then don't insult my intelligence." Shadow Man: "Fair enough." She's guided out.

The group is brought together and put on board a grav-van with blacked out windows. They go for a ride. The token Imperial is not with them though. Trevor: "What planet are we on?" Mitchell: "Saxe."

After a rather boring ride, they're let out at a beach house. Nice place, very high tech, very private. Still no sign of Malcolm, for which Mitchell is grateful. He figures SolSec probably already killed Malcolm. The only reason he can think of for them keeping Malcolm alive would be to turn him, and Mitchell doesn't think that would be profitable enough to outweigh the risks.

Elsewhere, the unprofitable so-called Imperial is very much alive. One of the agents picked up some of Malcolm's, or Douglas' belongings. Malcolm has had a chance to shower, depil, and change into one of the nice suits. He feels like a new man. Malcolm is being taken by car somewhere, with pleasant people in suits. Malcolm: 'This has been a most useful and established cover. Going back to being Douglas Martin would be good for my career, but..." Man: "The boss wanted you to have some time. He figured that if you had a chance to see some familiar faces might help." They drive up to a big glass office bldg. with just the address on it. It looks like a nice office building. They get into the elevator. the two men with Malcolm, one at a time, give thumbprint and voice ID, and then look at Malcolm. He follows suit, giving Douglas Martin as his name; it works.

They exit the elevator onto a floor with well appointed desks and offices. There is a secretary up front with a dense communications array. She looks up as they walk in. Secretary: "Good to have you back, sir." Malcolm: "Thank you." People look over at him. Several of the females give him a friendly smile. Man: "Good to see you, Doug." Malcolm: "Thanks. I'm still a bit Jumbled..." He's guided in. Man: "Ah, here we are sir." Up to a door with 'Captain Martin' on it, and another attractive female at a desk up front. Secretary: "Oh sir, I'm so glad to see you back." Inside is a big mahogany desk, leather reclining chair, complicated phone, and other electronic equipment. Malcolm looks at the equipment built into the desk - it includes a very complicated way to tell if the person sitting across from him is lying. Man: "I'll leave you to it then." He leaves.

Malcolm looks around the room. There are pictures of him with various dignitaries and the like. People Malcolm can't identify. It's a programmable wall panel that can give a 3-d image of a waterfall, sunset, etc. He flips through, hoping for something that looks familiar. Not really, it seems to be pretty generic in a pretty, calming way. Or maybe he didn't want to reveal anything. But now he's not revealing anything to himself! Malcolm: <thinking> "Damn me!" He opens the desk. Classic, nice pens, paper with the self-destruct corner, handgun in a recess, a high tech looking case that contains ID and a badge. The badge glows when Malcolm picks it up. It even has a 3-d image of him on it, in a short haircut. He's trying to get a handle on Douglas; he already knows Malcolm. His secretary, Miss Pembrook comes in. Pembrook: "Can I get you anything, sir?" Malcolm: "The usual." She comes back in with a cup of what smells like coffee. Coffee, cream, with a bit of sugar. Tastes strong, but apparently Malcolm and Douglas both like their coffee the same way. Nothing strikes a cord.

There's just nothing really personal in the office. It's all office stuff, but office stuff for a SolSec office. There are some certificates on the wall, for advanced medical training, data analyst, etc. One of the office guys comes in. Bob: "Hey, it's five o'clock. All work and no play..." Malcolm did find the shoulder holster for the pistol, and he puts it on. The holster molds itself to his body, but that's normal here. The handgun is a large caliber, and looks like it's well broken in. It feels good, but maybe that's just Malcolm not wanting to be without a gun. He follows the other people leaving for the day down to the parking garage. Attendant: "Hey sir, good to see you back." He plucks a set of keys out of an electronic box (the TL15 key board), and removes a static charged dust cover off of a nice looking sedan. Nothing flashy. Malcolm gets in. "Good evening, Captain Martin. Where would you like to go?" Malcolm: "Home please." The car takes off at a good clip, in it's fully automatic way, weaving in and out along with all the other cars pouring out of the other buildings. Malcolm checks out the car, and it's set up for some one who likes to do a lot of manual driving, which normally would suit Malcolm just fine. This time though, Malcolm sets the car to auto-pilot and tells it to take him home.

After a short drive, Malcom arrives "home". The house is a nice, but conservative design. Not all the same, and not little pillboxes jammed together. The houses have grass around them and everything. Luscious green, superior Solomani grass.

The others are at the beach house. It's very comfortable, has plenty of bedrooms and a common area. No close neighbors. The agent who drops them off tells them there's a cook/housekeeper on the premises, but that's it. Agent: "Until your manager's available, you'll be staying here. I wouldn't exactly call it a safehouse, but it's a place where operatives can relax. Once your manager is here, then things will be straightened out. For now, relax!" He slaps Mitchell on the arm in a friendly fashion, then takes off. They meet the cook, who is a middle-aged, quiet woman. It's very quiet here. There's a library, a terminal in every room, and lots of vids. Having a cargo ship, Mitchell checks for cargo. Gabrielle picks a bedroom. There's a lot of clothing, of all types. She spends a lot of time sitting on the beach and resting. Mitchell just waits. Trevor watches a lot of grav-ball. Several days pass.

Malcolm's, or Douglas's apartment, is nice, but nothing ostentatious. He does have a lot of books. He even has several books in sealed, climate controlled cases. The library looks like the most used room in the place. The kitchen looks neat as a pin, but if he'd been planning on going away he would have cleaned up beforehand. The fridge has been recently restocked.

The library has an armchair, a very nice fake fireplace (holographic), and a desk. Malcolm looks around. Whoever acquired these books liked eclectic reading material. From Bullfinch's Mythology, to How to Kill in six volumes. There's another recess, probably for the same laptop that was in the office. Malcolm looks through the rest of the house. There are three or four different toothbrushes in the bathroom. One of the drawers in the bedroom contains items that are probably not Douglas', unless he likes to dress up in women's clothing that's way too small. Douglas at least seems to have had a successful love life.

The house computer interrupts Malcolm's musings to inform him that there is someone at the door to see him. Computer: "The individual is on your guest list, would you like me to let them in?" Malcolm: "Yes. Visual." It's a female, leggy blonde, about 5'10". And very attractive. Malcolm goes out to the entry to greet her. Blonde: "Hey Doug. I heard you were back in town. Thought I'd drop by and say hi." She's got sunglasses in one hand and a bottle in the other. Malcolm: "Here, let me put that on ice." He takes the bottle to the kitchen and discreetly asks the computer what her name is. Computer: "Kimberly Lytton. She has not visited you in many months." Malcolm: "Has she visited often?" Computer: "The most frequent visitor was Erica Lytton." Malcolm: <thinking> "Dougie, you dog! Kimberly: "What does a lady have to do to get some one to take her coat?" Malcolm: "Just be a lady." He takes her coat and puts it in the closet. Malcolm: "House. Lights low, music please." Something soft and romantic begins to play. He'll be busy for the rest of the evening. He wishes he could remember her.

240 to 241-1121.

Malcolm gets a number of visitors, and the house identifies them. He gets a flash of memory about buying one of the books from a man in a fez, but that's all. He goes back to his office, hoping that will help.

Malcolm gets a call from Miss Pembroke. Pembroke: "Colonel Sanderson is here to see you, sir." Malcolm: "Please send him in." Malcolm stands to greet a man he doesn't recognize; as usual. Sanderson: "How are things working out? Anything at all?" Malcolm: "Isolated memories about buying a book, but that's it." Sanderson: "We were afraid of this. Well, I've heard from on high - you're being transferred to Special Projects. This is rather sudden, but it could be a good career move for you." Malcolm: "If you say so, sir." Sanderson: "I'm the last person on earth to give you advice." Malcolm: "Thank you for your patience." Sanderson: "It's the least I could do. If it weren't for you...well. You know." Malcolm: "I wish I did." The colonel gives him his sealed orders, in one of those addressee only or poof! envelopes. He's supposed to report to SP and to a Colonel Cox. Malcolm takes his ID and leaves.

The car knows where to go. After a number of high tech DNA, retinal, and other scans, a live body checks the ID. He is allowed into the "office" building. Bigger offices than his old building, but fairly similar. He takes the elevator up to Colonel Cox's office. Secretary: "Ah, Captain Martin. Go right in, the Colonel is expecting you." He enters the large office and the chair behind the desk swivels around to reveal a female. A tall female, with pale skin, dark hair, blue eyes. Very familiar-looking. Do these people buy in bulk, or what?

Malcolm: "Colonel." Analise Cox: "Captain Martin. I've been told we've met, but you'll forgive me if I don't recall. Please, have a seat." Malcolm sits down. Analise: "I'm familiar with your situation, and I think the best thing for now is for you to keep busy while we see how much of your old memories return. How do you feel about being Douglas Martin?" Malcolm: "It's like I'm wearing some one else's skin." Analise: "That's understandable. I'm sure you'll be anxious to meet the people with whom you'll be working, although I understand you already know them." Malcolm: "How will you be introducing Malcolm aback into the group?" Analise: "The others were given the option of joining our organization." Malcolm: "Would Malcolm, being an Imperial, have been offered such a thing?" Analise: "You have another suggestion?" Malcolm: "If you could point out that he has some interesting technical skills..." Analise: "Could work. I think that the Imperial identity is a bit awkward. We'll work that in later, but for now I think we need to correct the citizenship. The last thing we want is you to be picked up by the local authorities at the wrong moment." Malcolm: "What's the mission?" Analise: "We'd like you to return to the Vantage area. There's something brewing there that you might be useful for, if you think you can convince your friends to take you back into the fold." Malcolm: "I think so. Capeletti is not an issue, is he?" Analise: "Not at this moment. Not unless you uncover something. The best thing to do is to pick up your lives as best you can. Is there anything else you require?" Malcolm: "It's a pity I haven't met the real Lisa. Or Analise." Analise: "Perhaps at a later date...<she glances around the room> we can discuss things. Since you're going to be leaving, why don't you join me for dinner?" Malcolm: "That would be lovely." Analise: "I hope you don't feel it's a breach of etiquette." Malcolm: "Perhaps, but Malcolm is a forward sort." Analise: "Seven o'clock then? I'll have my address sent down to your car."

Malcolm goes to documentation. His history hasn't changed too much, but the border has shifted slightly and Malcolm was born in Solomani space, and his passport shows he has traveled a lot in Imperial space. The equivalent of the worn passport with many stamps is given to him. He's a well-traveled Solomani citizen, of limited means, no particular Party issues.

He gets to go out with Lisa. Dinner goes well, no one is killed or maimed. Malcolm lets himself be captured by her bedroom eyes. Later on, since Malcolm is home, but not alone, the house asks if it should let the female visitor in. Malcolm: "No, Douglas isn't in." The female visitor is given the recorded "I'm not home now" message.

242-1121.

Douglas gets his walking papers, and will travel with the lovely Colonel Cox to the beach house. Analise: "There's something I need to know. Is there anything I need to know?" Malcolm: "What do you mean?" Analise: "I'm just concerned as to whether or not they'll be any issues." Malcolm: "Yes, I believe there may be some ill will." Analise: "I see. I wonder why he assigned me?" Malcolm: "Maybe to keep them off guard. I don't know." Analise: "Well, shall we meet the rest of your merry band, Malcolm?"

They go in side to the common area, where the party had gathered when they heard the car. Malcolm's friend causes quite a few raised eyebrows, not to mention raised blood pressure. Analise: "I'm Analise Cox, but you can call me Lisa. I understand that we've met before, and I want you to know that wasn't me." Mitchell: "And who the hell was it?" Analise: "Captain Taylor, I presume. Let's just say that I'm the original." Mitchell: "Which means what, exactly?" Analise: "Suffice it to say that SolSec has some interesting technologies." Mitchell: "Cloning would be one of them." Analise: "Rank has it's privileges. If you become valuable enough, I'm sure they'll want a backup. But let's not pursue this. We're all professionals. let's let bygones be bygones. If anyone has any issues, we should address them now." Mitchell: "Yeah, him." Analise: "Mr. Edwards?" Mitchell: "Yeah, the Imperial citizen." Analise: "Well, we've taken care of that little detail. Mr. Edwards has his reasons for cooperating, and he has abilities we need. It's not a subject for debate." Mitchell: "I'm not debating it." Analise: "I understand that you might find this uncomfortable or even repugnant; he is after all the product of inferior Imperial breeding. <Malcolm rolls eyes> He does have some unique skills, and he is a known part of your group. At this point we'd like you to return to Vantage and settle in. We anticipate that this area will be very active." Mitchell: "In what way?" Analise: "There's an individual we believe may have returned to Vantage. I believe you know him - Commander Holloway." Mitchell: "Uh-huh." Analise: "He's become something of a liability. My superior believed you would want to handle this personally, but if that's not the case...?" Mitchell: "Oh, I definitely want to take care of Commander Holloway." Analise: "Good. Naturally, since you are contractors, we do not expect you to work pro bono." She hands over totally anonymous cash cards (not possible, in theory), for each person, that draw on the same account. Analise: "Don't abuse it, but if you should need more funds, it can be arranged. You will have a contact number that will work on any planet, and a recognition code that will be different for each of you, and should not be known by anyone else, including each other. If some one approaches you and gives you your own pass phrase, you'll know it's from me." Trevor: "How are we getting back to Vantage?" Analise: "" Mitchell: "would you like to continue to use the same ship?" Mitchell: "Yes. I'll arrange for some cargo. I don't suppose there's anything in particular you'd like to have transported to Vantage? Company discount, of course. " Analise: "Not that I can think of." She does smile at him. Analise: "You'll be happy to know your engineer is waiting on board the ship. Apparently you must have made some sort of impression, since she's been waiting for you." Mitchell: "I paid her." Analise: "Just remember, to her, you're just Mitchell Taylor." Mitchell: "Of course."

Colonel Cox stands to leave. Analise: "I'm sure your anxious to get home." Mitchell: "I'm anxious to get a deck under my feet." Lisa: "I'll see you again." She smiles, really trying to be friendly. Gabrielle just can't get the image of her dying, repeatedly, out of her head. Way too much blood.

Mitchell wants to get right back to his ship, and arrange for cargo. Biologicals would be the best bet, considering what Saxe is known for. Maybe a cargo of chairdogs, or other bioengineered animals, that sort of thing. Mitchell goes through a broker, and frozen pets are loaded on board. Mitchell orders his own personal pet from NeoTek, which will be ready in a few weeks.

The engineer, Grychin, has been taking care of the ship. Everything's in good order. Mitchell asks if she's been on the bridge, and she has, but she apparently never closed the iris door because she doesn't look at Mitchell strangely. He goes up, closes the door, and alters his list, crossing off Dr. Neil, and adding Lisa to the ? list. Holloway and Gerard are in the definite enemies list.

Gabrielle goes to her cabin, and lo and behold there's an envelop on her pillow. She opens it. It's a hi and howdy from Dr. Neil, that sort of thing. Letter: "If you're reading this, I have suffered some unfortunate fate....so I can say now what I couldn't say in life...how much you meant to me...If there's any justice in this universe then you and I will meet again, in this life or the next." If he actually meant what he wrote...that is just so horribly icky, it's unbelievable.

Gabrielle gathers up everything from Dr. Neil, including the photo and letter, and finds a business on Up Port that has facilities to allow people to safely burn things. Gabrielle removes the photo from the frame for disposal and discovers a slip of paper behind the photo with a series of numbers on it. Gabrielle memorizes the numbers and keeps the paper for now, but burns the photo and the letter before returning to the ship.

243 to 250-1121.

Boring trip. Mitchell doesn't isolate himself this time, and everyone can pretty much relax and recover, even if they don't feel like talking. It's a very quiet jump, and Gabrielle can almost believe all the violence and horror was all a really bad dream. Almost.

Grychin asks to talk to the captain on a personal matter. Mitchell is happy to speak with her privately in his cabin. Grychin: "I'm not sure how to broach this subject, but I've been on board this ship for a while, and I've been through a lot, and well...It's been a while, and... How do you feel about relations between shipmates?" Mitchell: "As long as it doesn't get in the way of work." Grychin: "Are you working now?" Mitchell: "Well this is my cabin. I can work when I want to." Mitchell assists the engineer with her morale issue. And it has been a while. There's a lot of racket coming from Mitchell's cabin. Gabrielle turns up the sound dampers and tries to ignore them. Good grief.

Grychin pays Malcolm a visit a day later, and repeats the same sort of conversation she had before with Mitchell. Malcolm: "I'd say that's one of the most attractive offers I've received in parsecs." There's thumping and carrying on in Malcolm's room next.

The third night out, there's a knock on Gabrielle's door. A variation on the same theme, from Grychin, but aimed at Gabrielle. Grychin: "I thought you might want a bit of company." A less direct approach, as Gabrielle's not a man. Gabrielle: "Trevor's in the next cabin down, that way. Thanks, but no thanks." No hard feelings. Grychin goes to Trevor's room next, but he declines. Grychin is forced to alternate between Mitchell and Malcolm. Thank God it's only a one week trip.

250-1121.

Vantage!

Once in system, Mitchell posts on the anonymous board, just like Tabitha taught him. He posts the "I'm back" code. She should be pretty pissed off considering how long he's been gone. Mitchell sells the cargo through a broker on Freemantle, making 10,000 Solars in profit. Enough to pay his crew and put some money into the ship. And he's got a couple of sets of papers for the ship, and two sets of anagathon to fall back on.

The party is back on Vantage - the crime rate should start to go up any second now...