163-1103 – Acadie
Having returned to their ship after the raid on the Neubayern agents’ safe-house the previous night, the rew of the Perfect Stranger set about cracking the encryption on the computer that they had siezed. Zhana went to work on this, and had the advantage of using the TL15 computer technology available on the Stranger: as a Signals Intelligence-gathering platform, she is essentially designed for rapid decryption. With the help of Ferrik, who used his forensics skills to look for unusual keyboard-wear, Zhana didn’t take long to break the relatively-primitive TL12 security.
It turned out that the studiously-rigorous Neubayern agents had indeed, in the words of Stringer Bell, been keeping notes on a criminal conspiracy. The party found their report on the killing of the Imperium agents who had previously crewed the Perfect Stranger, showing that it had been carried out by militant union members from Houillon as part of the deal that supplied them with guns.
The party also found a series of receipts for the rental of a lock-up in town, clearly intended as part of an expenses report to account for petty cash expended!
The party decided to act on this information, and hired a car at the starport to investigate and to possibly retreive anything to be found at the lock-up. On leaving the starport, however, they discovered that Zak Larchwood (the debt collector in La Belle Femme) had been absolutely correct: martial law was in force and their car was searched more or less rigorously three times on the way to the lockup. They disguised their route by purchasing lubricants for the ship from the chandlers.
Zhana’s tactics and Ferrik’s investigative skills came to the fore, here: Zhana spotted possible overwatch positions that might be being used for surveillance of the lock-up, while Ferrick made sure each was clear, other than one window where the curtains were twitching repeatedly.
The Travellers marched confidently up to the lock-up and cracked the code on the entrance, but the chutters only lifted about two feet. Zhana checked and spotted a switch that was tucked behind the door at just that height, and once that was pressed, the door opened the rest of the way, revealing a Claymore mine set up above the entrance and intended to cut in half any unwary entrant.
The lock-up turned out to be packed with rifles and hand-guns – enough to arm at least a batallion of irregulars – all oiled and marked with the stamp of the manufacturers on New Home. The agents seem to have been planning to further arm Acadie’s revolutionaries and to pin the blame on the rival state of New Home!
Spotting that the person who had observed them was now on the telephone, the Travellers promptly returned to their ship.
Before the Travellers could work out what to do with their new information, Travis received a call from Inspecteur Villeneuve. He sounded cordial, but his message bore a degree of cool warning:
“I thought that I should inform you that a group of foreign agents – very likely the same group that attempted to detain you – was arrested last night. Two members of this spy ring remain at large: be aware that they may, for whatever reason, still bear whatever grudge drove them to interact with you in the first place.
Some concerned individuals called us last night, warning us of the presence of these agents not far from here, whom they claimed to have stumbled upon.
Their DNA is no doubt present on the scene: we found various blood traces in the apartment as the result of a firefight which appears to have occurred. At this time, we choose to believe that there was a falling-out amongst the enemy agents and that two of them – who remain at large – were attacked and escaped afer subduing their attackers. If we were to check the DNA at the scene that may confirm this theory. It might even point at the involvement of others. Who knows?
At the moment, however, the investigation remains live due to the removal of computer equipment from the scene: equipment that we believe may be useful in confirming our theory and closing the case. Were we to come into possession of this computer in the next day or so we would be able to complete our investigations and dispose of the remaining complications, both legal and human. The matter would be at an end and our investigation could end.
While the state of Amondiage is grateful to whatever concerned individuals uncovered this next of Neubayern vipers, I would say that they would be wise not to return to Amondiage or her colonial possessions for some time, as they would undoubtedly be the subjects of increased vigilance and even a petit peu of suspicion.”
Travis politely implied that he took the hint, and the party anonymously couriered the computer with a return address noted at the lock-up that they had discovered, with a note giving the decryption keys and suggesting care entering the lock-up.
With this, Travis rejoined Anson in working on repairing the sabotaged power systems of the Perfect Stranger, while Ferrik sought out freight and passengers for the looming trip to the party’s next destination, which they decided would be Colchis.
164-1103 – Acadie
The next day, Capitaine Marcel Durat of the starport administration contacted the group to say that, in a most irregular set of circumstances that seemed most rash and inappropriate to him, the murder case requiring the Perfect Stranger’s launch had been closed and marked as complete but placed under seal. He had never heard of such an egregious breach of procedure but his orders required him to return the launch to the operators of the craft forthwith, and the Perfect Stranger had been cleared for departure despite martial law being in force.
Travis also received an email from a burner account with photographs and details on the two remaining Neubayern agents who were at large:
Matthias Eberhardt
Eberhardt specialises in long-term cultural infiltration, embedding himself in guilds, unions, and religious communities. He builds trust patiently, then dismantles networks without ever appearing responsible. Most of his targets believe events simply “turned against them.”
He has dark, greying hair, an open face, broad shoulders, was last observed with substantial beard and moustache and is said to have an easy smile that invites confidence. His clothing subtly mirrors local fashion wherever he operates, down to regional mannerisms and accents.
Klaus Reinhardt
Reinhardt acts as analyst, handler liaison, and contingency planner, rarely exposing himself in the field. He excels at pattern recognition and prepares multiple escape vectors for every operation. Previous observations suspect that he understands their true strategic purpose better than anyone else present.
He is thin, pale, and chronically tired-looking, has been noted with ink-stained fingers and untidy, rumpled clothing. His gaze has been noted by observers as distant and he is said to have an “analytical” air; attitude is detached and unsympathetic.
165-1103 – Acadie Departure
The mystery of the fate of the previous crew solved and their ship deemed spaceworthy once more, the crew of the Perfect Stranger departed Acadie on the evening of 165-1103, carrying eight low-berth passengers, a few tons of luxury consumables that they had purchased, and a full hold of fuel and freight for the two-parsec journey to Colchis.
172-1103 – Deep Space
The first jump went well, and the Travellers busied themselves with rechecking the engineering systems after the first jump – Travis’s and Anson’s repairs seemed to have worked well – and pumping fuel from the auxiliary hold to the main fuel tanks before jumping once more. The party spent their time variously learning the local laws, shooting, carousing and sneaking furtively around the ship.
181-1103 – Colchis
Arriving at Colchis after more than a fortnight on the Perfect Stranger, the party were keen to stretch their legs and to find buyers for their cargo. The freight was delivered and payment accepted, and Vanderpool revived the low berth passengers, all of whom had survived the trip thanks to his skiled care.
They were heading to a bar when a harassed-looking businessman in a rumpled (but expensive) suit and a loosened tie raced up to them. “Perfect Stranger? What kept you? We expected you here months ago!”
Ushering them into the noise of Adelaide’s Bar, he introduced himself as Raoul Petrosa, the Regional Operations Director for Sternmetal Horizons. A contact for the firm running the Perfect Stranger had committed the crew to help him with a piece of work, months ago, and then they’d fallen off the radar. Was the job still on? This was now becoming urgent!
The party explained that there had been staffing changes on the ship, but asked to hear about the work.
Petrosa explained that a team for Sternmetal had performed a geological survey on Colchis in an area suspected to have substantial ore deposits. Control of the area was split between the government at the southern end of a seventy-five mile long lake, and rebels at the northern end. However, the team had been on a boat, returning from one side of the lake to the other when they were attacked at night, and the boat – The Mary Lou – had sunk rapidly with all hands.
Sternmetal would offer 200,000 credits if the Travellers would find the boat and retrieve the survey team’s results: they were given a deescription of what this would look like. A further bonus would be given of 10,000 credits for each of the five survey team bodies that they could retrieve, so that the company could return these to the deceaseds’ relatives.
Sternmetal would arrange an air-drop at 0630 on the second day after the team arrived on-planet, in order to deliver anything that the party felt that they would need in a war-zone that they couldn’t get through security on a high law-level world. Sternmetal would also provide locally-sourceable equipment up to the value of 100,000 credits as required.
The Travellers accepted the deal and set about planning.
Leave a Reply