Star Trek RPG - Mission #5: "Of Captains and Capos"

"Thank you, sir. We will report when we have further information." Kylah is tempted to ask if Lt. Thalen knows whether they have heard from the other half of the landing party, but something--perhaps reluctance to show concern for Mr. Rangin--keeps her silent.

She ends the conversation while keeping the communicator open so she can view the screen, and holds it out hesitantly, almost as if offering it to the others. "Excuse me, Lt. Morris? Have you a map of the city available? We should be able to use these coordinates to identify the streets in the vicinity, which will allow us to hail another taxicab. Once we are there, perhaps my tricorder--or yours, Dr. T'Var--might pick up any unusual readings that could be due to Federation technology."

Belatedly she realizes how presumptuous she must sound. Her face warm, Kylah glances over at the current team leader, deferring to him. "...If you think that is a good idea, Mr. Graham."

Graham clasps his hand behind his backand (mostly unconsciously) starts to pace.

"The mainframe is a good lead," he says, addressing the group generally.

He pauses. "I agree with your recommendation, Mr. Kylah," he adds, nodding in her direction. "Let's get our feet wet, get a better sense of what's going on. If we're followed from here--well, I'd bet Yorktown could pick up the pattern of a vehicle tailing ours for almost eight kilometers: so much the better."

He scowls slightly. "Lt. Morris, can you give us a five-minute education just in case things go south:

What's the local currency, and can you share some with us or do we need Yorktown to fabricate and beam us some?
The weapons locker was secure, which is encouraging - do you know if the kidnapped team would have been carrying phasers?
Ens. Kylah's right about a map - and do you know anything about the area Yorktown pinpointed?"

Morris says, "Of course. The dollar is the local currency, just like in Old Chicago. I have several hundred dollars myself, which should cover our expenses at least for today. I'm sure the ship could create more - it's hardly counterfeit-proof. I don't know if my shipmates had phasers; if they did, they probably would've been disarmed when they were captured. We have maps for the whole planet, including this city. But that particular area... no, I'm not familiar with it."

Rangin gestures the other two off to one side away ftom the streaming crowd to somewhere slightly more discreet. When he can he turns to the others and lowers his voice.

"I don't think it would be wise to confront Krako now, there may well be a good reason as to how he knows if he is not responsible. There may even be other players in this we don't know about beyond Okmyx. Let's gather some more information first."

Rangin casts an eye back over the area before looking at them. "Garcia, why don't you see what the requirements are for signing up? Collins, how about you and I go up and ask what we can do to help find the missing officers and see what they know?"

Garcia says, "Aye, sir." He pauses for a moment, looking around, and then begins moving with the crowd towards the exit and the Krako aides who were there.

"Yes, sir" Collins agrees. She'll follow Rangin's lead when they to Krako and his staff.

Kylah waits for Lt. Morris to lead them to the maps, but he finishes without any indication that he plans to do so. She eyes Mr. Graham, grateful that he approves of her idea, and shrugs slightly in a sort of confused, impatient gesture. Then she returns her attention to the other man. "So... will you show me the map, please, sir? Maybe you will recognize the address, or at least the area."

While looking at Morris, something odd occurs to her. Despite learning that the upstairs had been ransacked and items taken, Lt. Morris has shown no interest in checking his own belongings. Strange. I would not be so passive if I had learned someone had invaded my room or stolen things--

Of course. Why has she not empathized with the current prisoners more? Kidnapping, theft, invasion of privacy... she knows it all too well. Perspiration dampens her forehead. Visions of her broken zither, then Zweller's note on her bedside table, the thugs who attacked her, and finally Zweller himself... they all alternate in her mind and cause a swell of nausea.

Kylah clamps her jaw shut to control herself. I must do my job. Focus. Get them back. After swallowing, she blurts: "Wait, Lt. Morris! Please," she adds in a more controlled manner, continuing tactfully: "I--I just realized we have not given you time to check whether anything--other than technology--was taken from you. You must be anxious to find out. I can go with you, and coordinate the map and our data while you look."

She brushes a hand across her forehead to push her damp curls away, then sends an intense look at the Vulcan beside her. "Dr. T'Var, you may have already mentioned this, but did see any signs of a struggle?" Kylah does not wish to be too indelicate. These are Lt. Morris's friends, or at least team members. Still, she has to ask, "Did your tricorder pick up any indications of... injuries?"

Rangin and Collins approach the edge of the stage. There are still a lot of people there, at least five deep, eager to shake hands with and talk to Krako. You are both jostled again several times.

Dr. T'Var says, "I cannot be sure if the disordered condition of the rooms upstairs is due to a struggle or a simply a careless or hurried search. My tricorder scan revealed no blood or other body fluids that might indicate injuries."

Morris replies to Kylah a little nervously, "Sure, let's go take a look. The maps are up there, too." He and Kylah go upstairs. She sees that there is a long main hallway off of which eight rooms open - five bedrooms, Morris explains, as well as a bathroom, an office and a storage room. As T'Var said, the place has been ransacked, with clothes, books and other items strewn about. In the office, which is also a mess, Morris rummages around a bit and finally pulls out a map of the city. He asks for the coordinates Thalen provided, and then indicates various places on the map. "Here we are, and there are the Syndicate headquarters, and here... let's see, over here in this general area, would be the mainframe, if those readings are correct."

Downstairs in the living room, T'Var has just said, "Mr. Graham, I wonder if...." when there is a click from the front hall.

Kylah watches Lt. Morris's search, his anxious response nagging guiltily at her. She has not taken his emotional state seriously enough. In addition to being worried for his teammates, he must feel ambivalent about his having escaped capture--relief and guilt can often comingle in situations like this.

And, of course, whoever took the others is searching for him. The man has a target painted on his back, and now Kylah has asked him to view the messy remains of what appears to have been the kidnappers' search.

Now she examines the map as he has pointed it out to her, nodding and trying to estimate how far the potential mainframe location is from the Syndicate headquarters.*

Then Kylah places a gentle hand on Lt. Morris's arm, just briefly. "Thank you, this is very helpful," she says gently. "I am sorry, I know it is unpleasant to see such disarray. We can go downstairs now, if you are satisfied that nothing else is missing." She hesitates with a new thought, then adds, "For that matter, have you noticed whether there is anything that they did not take, but might have left behind accidentally--such as data storage files or anything else they might not have recognized?"


* Hint hint?

Morris looks touched by Kylah's concern, but then visibly pulls himself together. "Good question. I don't know. I suppose I should look around a bit more myself up here; I might spot something Dr. T'Var missed...."

Graham arches an eyebrow and raises one finger to his lips, signaling for silence. He draws his phaser and gestures for T'Var to move the opposite side the hallway back to the front hall from him; he move to have as close to a 45 degree angle on it as possible, and holds a hand up to indicate they should wait a moment.*

*The upshot being if their relative starting positions are (say) Graham is to right and T'Var is to the left, he'll move further right and indicate she should move left - or vice versa.

T'Var nods and silently does as Graham indicates.

A few seconds later, the black metal snout of a machine gun pokes out from the front hallway, tentatively followed by the head of a clean-shaven man, his eyes narrowed, wearing a fedora.

"Of course, sir, that is a good idea," Kylah says. "Dr. T'Var is very thorough, but she could not know your belongings as well as you." She lifts the map slightly. "Thank you for this. I will be downstairs--I would like to scan it and transmit a copy to my colleagues. This could be of great assistance if something happens and we are separated."

With a little encouraging nod, she turns and leaves the room. She walks slowly downstairs, distracted while using her tricorder to take an image of the map. By the time she reaches the landing, she has finished, and stops in place where the stairs join with the corridor in order to send the scanned image to each of the teammates' communicators. Her concentration is entirely focused on the tiny screen.

"You know that wall doesn't mean shit to a Federation weapon," Graham says forcefully and evenly, weapon trained on the man (knowing that it's on stun but the interloper doesn't). "So put yours on the floor and your hands over your head."

The man immediately withdraws his head. "We don't want any trouble!" he, or someone with him, calls from out of sight, still in the front hall. "President Okmyx, he just wants to talk with youse."

Rangin scans the groups of Krako's aides and looks for a lone person or a pair who seem busy and talking to the associated crowd.

"I'm guessing most of them are involved in one way or another so should know something about what is going on," he asides to Collins. When he sees someone talkative, he nods to Collins for her to follow him and he walks up to them.

"Hola. We hear you have some missing people, you're...ah...concerned about. We'd like to help out if we can, you know, help find them." Rangin tries his hardest not to start mimicking the accent.

Graham wonders briefly why underworld machismo and slang displays so much constancy across time and space.

Keeping his weapon aimed, and nodding in her direction to indicate T'Var should do the same, he replies.

"We's don't want any trouble, neither." His tone remains firm but he makes it a bit more friendly. "So how's about this: youse stacks your...pieces," he says, running through old vids he's seen "in the hallway and come in with your hands where we can see 'em. And then we'll have a sit-down."

"Maybe a couple of the dames will make some tea," he adds, not sure whether the affectation will make him more credible or get him phaser -stunned by T'Var.

There is one man in Science blue with a lieutenant's stripes whose attention Rangin is able to get. The "lieutenant" says, a little warily, "Hey, that'd be great. What can you do? Do you know something about it already, other than what Capt. Krako said?"

In the house's living room, Graham and T'Var listen intently. "Listen," says the voice from the front hall, "I'm Kalo, the President's chief of security. We're not gonna disarm, OK? This is our turf, our world. Why don't youse just come along with us, and we'll protect youse so youse don't get bagged like the other Feddies. Youse got my word on it."

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Kalo

"You know that wall doesn't mean shit to a Federation weapon."

Mr. Graham's harsh tone and language abruptly rip Kylah's focus away from the map. She is shaken and her immediate question is, why is he so angry with Dr. T'Var?

About to speak, she is interrupted by an unfamiliar male voice from somewhere near the front hall. Understanding floods her mind and adrenaline rushes through her body. Instinctively she shrinks backwards, her tricorder and communicator hidden between her and the wall of the stairwell.

Her first coherent thought turns to Lt. Morris--if he comes downstairs now, he might reveal his presence and make things even more dangerous. I must get up to him and keep him safe. Kylah looks back out at the hallway, where she can see no one... and it doesn't seem that anyone has seen her, either. She takes a silent, deep breath and stealthily ascends the stairs, her small frame a blessing when it comes to preventing creaks or other sounds. The entire time, she does not exhale.

If she successfully makes it back to the upper floor, she will rush to find Lt. Morris, close the door behind her and put a hand on his mouth to prevent him from speaking. "Do not be alarmed," she whispers, belatedly realizing her manner is probably not conducive to Morris's remaining calm. "There is a man downstairs. Probably more than one. Dr. T'Var and Ensign Graham are handling the matter. I will keep you up here--I do not know if this stranger is aware you are with us or not. But I have a weapon and can guard you. Do you understand, sir?"

She looks at Morris to determine if he understands and will follow her instructions.

Only then it occurs to her to wonder how the strangers found them in the first place. They were not followed, at least not that she or Mr. Graham noticed, nor were there any people in the street to see the pair of them entering the building. Even if there had been, they would only have seen two seemingly 20th-century-era citizens. So how were she and Mr. Graham caught out as Federation so quickly? We have missed something, somewhere. But I do not see how.

Kylah has been seen by no one downstairs. She makes no noise as she returns to the second-floor office; Morris is startled by what she says but then quietly replies, "I understand." He silently puts down the sheaf of Iotian papers through which he was looking.

Kylah gives Morris what she hopes is a confident nod, then takes her phaser and moves to the edge of the closed door, trying to listen in on whatever might be happening downstairs.

Before he responds to the man in the fake uniform, Rangin turns round to identify the commotion quickly realising that it could be Garcia in trouble. "What the..?" The sentence trails off as he looks across.

Graham almost sighs. "All right, 'Kalo,'" he replies, in no hurry. "I'm guessing you know the Federation isn't about throwing its weight around if it doesn't have to. So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna stow my piece, grab a char, and come over to the doorway. I'm gonna put that chair down, and have a seat, and then we can have a face-to-face conversation."

With his free hand he flips his communicator open. "I'm also guessing you know what that sound means." He speaks into the communicator loudly enough to be overheard in the hallway. "Graham to Yorktown. Security priority. If my life signs change from anything but the picture of health beam any Iotians within 10 meters of me into open space." He texts furiously with his thumb. TRANSPOTR STASIS WLDBGUD

"If you don't know what 'open space' means, Kalo," he adds, "I suggest you ask now before you do anything that makes it a real up close and personal experience, because I'm on my way," he concludes, looking to grab the most portable seat he can see.

Kylah can faintly hear what sounds like Graham's voice coming from downstairs.

Rangin sees that Garcia is talking to a woman in the doorway; she is wearing Starfleet uniform. His shipmate seems to be all right. The crowd is thinning a bit now as the auditorium empties.

"OK, go ahead," Kalo says from the house's front hall. "We won't shoot. But take it nice and slow, pally."

Graham sees that there is a light wooden chair with dark red upholstery along the wall nearby. Seconds later, his communicator shows the texted reply, Understood. Ready for possible beamout and transporter stasis. Standing by. CHEVEREZ.

dp

Since Rangin is momentarily distracted, Collins answers "Not a lot. Just that some guys were grabbed from a house."

Concerned that Mr. Graham seems to be handling this alone--Where is Dr. T'Var?--Kylah presses her ear more tightly against the crack and lowers her free hand to curl around the doorknob, turning very slowly to determine if she can open it without being heard.

Her gaze flicks over to Lt. Morris and she whispers, "Have you found anything?"

The fake Science lieutenant asks Collins, "What had you heard before you came here? Do you know who took them, or where they might have been taken?"

Morris lifts his hands frustratedly and tells Kylah, "The place is just a mess. I can't tell what was taken, and what might just have been moved or lost underfoot."

"We ain't hoid nuthin'," Collins says hoping to sound more like a local and less like an outsider, "jus' dat someone was took. So me and him, we taut dat maybe we could, y'know, help." Rangin! Pay attention! I'm floundering here! she thinks at her companion.

Graham estures to a position closer to his but out of sight of the front hall, then points two fingers toward his eyes, and then points toward the front of the house and then with greater emphasis the back of the house to indicate T'Var should stay alert for any movement from either direction.

Not sure why I am sure a doctor will get those signals, but I am...

Graham stows his weapon and grasps the chain with both hands on its top--clearly visible--and slowly ambles toward the doorway.

Once there (--if all goes well--) he intends to place it slowly down in front of him, disarmingly raise his hands, and move slowly from behind the chair to in front of it, sitting down, crossing his legs, and placing his hands on his knee.

The Iotian Starfleet-wannabe says, "I see. Well, perhaps we can find something for you to do. I'm Lt. Zom Fesek, by the way." He holds out his hand. "What's your name?"

T'Var nods to Graham and makes an "OK" sign with her fingers. She has her phaser-1 out and at the ready.

Graham sits down and sees four men in sharp Twenties suits in the front hallway; each is holding what he recognizes as a "Tommy gun,"* notorious for their wide usage in Chicago in this era (the Enterprise reports had mentioned them). The men are not quite pointing their guns at him, but neither are they pointing them completely away.

"So," says the man who earlier identified himself as Kalo, a tall, lean, dark-haired man, "how can I persuade youse and your friends to come meet with President Okmyx?" He smiles slightly. "I know he'd really like to meet youse."

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thompson_submachine_gun

Rangin snaps back to the conversation. "Sorry, thought I heard something. Yeah, we'd like to help out." He reaches across and shakes Fesek's hand, "Mr. Rangin, Velir to my friends."

"Well, I suppose we should feel honored, seeing as he's president and all," Graham replies, shrugging slightly. 'You could start by explaining how you--youse--got that door open?" he says, careful not to budge his hands, instead making a slight gesture toward it with his chin.

"Oh--and also, before anything unfortunate and...messy...happens, making sure no one is trying to get in the back, because we have that covered."

Fesek says, "Nice to meetcha. Say, have you met the Captain yet?"

Kalo shrugs. "We been watchin' the place. Have some boys with binoculars who saw you come in, and they took notes on the entry code. Easy as pie. As for getting in the back... hey, don't worry about it."

Graham nods in return. "Binoculars...simple but effective."

He allows his next shrug to move his hands slightly, to see how this crew reacts.

"So's what does Mr. President want to talk about?"

The gangsters, er, armed gentlemen watch you closely but do not otherwise react.

Kalo takes a seat on one of the front-hall chairs, crosses his legs and replies, "The kidnapping of your fellow Feddies, of course. Mr. Okmyx, I know, wants to assure you he had nothing to do with it. He'd like to know how we can help you find 'em again."

"Not yet," Collins says, "may we?"

"Sure," says Fesek. He glances over at Krako; the crowd around him is thinning a bit now. "Give me a second."

Rangin looks across through the crowd. It isn't something he expects to do, meet the second in command of a planet while undercover at a rally in support of the Federation.

"Thanks," Rangin says quietly not wanting to distract Fesek and looks across to Collins to see what she is thinking. He gives her a slight nudge with his elbow while Fesek is facing in the other direction to get her attention before Krako turns up and wonders if she has any kind of plan?

Collins starts a bit when Rangin nudges her, then faces him to give him her attention.

"What do you think?" Rangin quietly whispers to Collins while Fesek appears otherwise distracted in gaining Krako's attention.

"I think we get Garcia and meet with the guy," Collins suggests, "If we can meet with him without any of his "lieutenants", maybe we can let him know who we really are and how much we really know. I also think we should let Graham and the others know what's going on."

"Well, that's welcome news," Graham replies, slowly raising one hand to rub his chin. "If you'd be so kind as to let us know where he is, we can all be there in a snap, so to speak" he adds, using that same hand to lightly snap his fingers.

Kalo smiles. "Wanna do that sparkly disappearing-reappearing thing? The b- the President already told me he don't want us to do that. I guess he's old-fashioned that way. C'mon, we'll take you all to him - no problem."

"Agreed on meeting Krako and possibly letting him know, but let's keep Garcia out of it until we know more. Anything goes wrong he can get news to the others." Rangin is still not sure how involved Krako is in the case of the disappearing officers, and doesn't want to give everything away.

"Also, if either of us gets a spare moment, contact Graham."

Graham shrugs. "I can see how the sparkly-disappearing thing can take some getting used to."

He stands up slowly, his hands always in front of him. "Well, to be honest I appreciate the civilized nature of our discussion so far. So seeing as I'm in charge of this Feddy group here, I'm inclined to accept your invitation." He pauses. "Only thing is--just to be clear, so all of youse..." He glaces from Kalo to each of the others. "..Undertsand how the sparkly-disappearing thing works, our colleagues were bushwhacked while there was no ship in orbit. Now that one is, they can see exactly how we're doing, minute by minute, and if any of us should spring any holes, they can sparkly disappear and re-appear anybody nearby anywhere they see fit--like outer space. Or the middle of the ocean. Or an active volcano."

He turns back to Kalo. "Just sos we're clear on keeping things civilized." He extends a hand. "I'm Graham, by the way. Booker Graham."

"Well, if Garcia isn't going to join us, I'll just message him and Graham at the same time" Collins states, and faces Rangin so her back is towards Fesek when he returns. She types a quick update about their whereabouts and plan, and sends it to Garcia and Graham.

Collins's texts go through. Garcia is still in her line of sight, not far away, in the doorway. He discreetly peeks at his communicator and then looks up questioningly at Collins.

Kalo's eyes widen a little at Graham's description of the Yorktown's transporter's capabilities, but he takes Graham's hand and shakes it with a firm grip, his Tommy gun tucked under his other arm. "Sure, pally," he says, "no problem. Like I said, the President just wants to talk; he's not lookin' for any trouble. You, uh, gonna call your other friends in the house to come join us?"

Graham returns the handshake with equal firmness. "We'll be ready in a couple minutes." He pauses briefly and gestures toward the door. "Obviously, with the security code to that door compromised--no offense--we'll have to take some steps to restore security before we leave. Why don't you gentlemen relax for a few, and we'll be right out."

He feels his communicator buzz and, in addition to talking to the team here privately, would prefer to review any intel from the other team privately as well.

Kalo looks at Graham warily and says, "OK. We'll wait right here."