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

"The Krako, you think? Well, then this should certainly be even more interesting than I thought," he whispers quietly back to Collins and Garcia. "Keep a lookout for anyone who appears to be guiding people in, or the muscle who is watching over everyone. Let's, hopefully, not get caught unawares by what's happening here and find something new out. Although if you could point out Krako when you see him, I'd be grateful."

Rangin starts scanning through the faces in the crowd. He doesn't think he will know any of them, he's not even sure he would recognise Krako if he came up to his face and welcomed him as he hadn't expected to be down on this mission. However, trying to spot those in charge for later on, could prove invaluable. He also starts listening in to the crowd, eavesdropping on conversations and trying to hear the reasons why people are coming here. They seem excited, but it must be for something?

Kylah inputs the code, there is a quiet beep, and the door clicks slightly open. It is thick and looks strong.

Garcia nods in response to Rangin, who recognizes no one in the crowd, which is indeed upbeat, loud and excited. There are several people in Starfleet uniform - with shirts in red, yellow and blue - who appear to be acting as ushers. All of them have at least an ensign's single strand of gold braid on their cuffs; two have the braid of lieutenant.

Rangin overhears several snippets of conversation:

"...and Capt. Krako himself will be speaking to us! It's going to be...."

"...glad we can finally come out in the open and...."

"...is a good color on you, and I'm not just saying that, honey, because...."

"...ship returned, and that looked like a good time to...."

"...Gorol said so, but you know Gorol: couldn't find his pants if you didn't...."

The crowd gets denser as you pass through an outer lobby and then into the main hall, which is already nearly full. About two-thirds of the crowd is in Starfleet uniform; the rest are in Twenties Chicago garb, as you are. You are each jostled a bit as you enter.

It's the comment about finally being out in the open that catches Collins' attention. She turns to her shipmates and quietly says "I think Krako's Federation may actually be a resistance movement." She looks around the crowd, especially studying body language of those assembled. Do they look like coiled springs ready to release? Or is the excitement level just jubilance?

Jubilance, all in all. It's a very upbeat, happy crowd.

After moments of feeling claustrophobic and trapped, Kylah is relieved to see the door unlock, and she casts a quick, hopeful look at Mr. Graham. "Can we--can we go inside now, sir?"

"Absolutely," Graham says, relieved in his own right. "Allow me," he says, moving to go in first. No life signs and fatal booby trap unlikely given that the MO is kidnapping, but better be safe than sorry.

"Shut the door behind us if nothing bad happens," he adds.

Kylah exhales when Mr. Graham moves away. She nearly objects to his going inside first, since from what little she knows about this society, it is customary for men to hold open doors for women. But she doubts he would allow her to take that risk--such as it is. Besides, he is already inside.

If anyone is watching, they will likely just consider him rude. Playing her part, Kylah brushes her hands along the flimsy material of her dress, making sure it is smoothed out after... whatever it looked like they were doing... and follows Mr. Graham into the building.

Graham and Kylah find themselves in the dim front hall of the house. It looks similar to other such houses of the era, as Graham vaguely remembers from long-ago history classes and films he's seen. The walls are bare. To the left are stairs going up, just beside that is a slightly-ajar door, and further to the right the hall opens out into what appears to be a living room.

"Ok - let's see where this takes us" Rangin says and he starts heading into the hall and joining the assembled crowd standing closer to those who are not wearing the faux uniforms than those who are.

He checks his pockets to make sure nothing is missing and then starts looking around the hall to see where Krako might be coming in from and what kind of platform there is.

Collins nods to Garcia that they should stay near Rangin, and starts to follow the latter.

Kylah looks immediately at the partially opened door. Her fingers curl lightly around Mr. Graham's left arm to get his attention, then nods curiously at the door in question. She knows he has seen it, probably before she did, but is unsure of what strategy he wishes to undertake. Does he deem it safe to speak? Can they relax their vigilance? Or should they maintain their covers--and if so, what is their excuse for being there?

Rangin finds his phaser and communicator are still in his pockets. Collins and Garcia follow him and, working your way through the thick and milling crowd, being jostled quite a bit as you go, you eventually find three seats together. The stage and podium are to your right, about 30 rows away. A half-dozen people in Starfleet uniform are already on stage, sitting or standing, and talking. A wide red banner with a massive golden Starfleet insignia covers the wall behind the stage. There is a door to either side of the stage. Men and women in Security red stand at ease by each door, and at floor level in front of the stage. It is quite noisy in the hall.

Rangin reaches into his pockets and sets his communicator to silent. The last thing he wants to happen is for it to go off and alert the entire hall to the presence of three Federation Officers, even if those around would be delighted to see them.

He listens further to the conversation around, trying to get a hint of what Krako might be about to talk about or see if there are any leaflets or flyers he can see which might have some more detail on.

Rangin silences his communicator. He sees no leaflets or flyers. It is still very noisy, but he overhears several more conversational fragments:

"...done it up right, with the banners and the uniforms and all, that's just...."

"...has to know his time has passed, and that Capt. Krako is going to be...."

"...said she was going to throw him out if he tried something like that again, and if I were him, you know, I'd...."

"...to worry about, because we're the wave of the future and Okmyx is just going to have to...."

"...for a long time, and at last we're going to hear what he has to say. Right? Of course. Do you think he'll...."

Graham nods at Kylah's drawing his attention to the door. "No life signs," he whispers. "But still..."

He gestures for her to stand near the foot of the stairs, then positions himself to watch the door. He places his hand on his phaser and takes out his communicator.

"Graham to T'Var," he says quietly, eyes on the door. "We're in. Join us via transporter in the front hall."

"Acknowledged," Dr. T'Var replies. "Stand by. I want to make sure we're not observed."

After a minute or two, T'Var and Morris materialize there in the hall.

Graham keeps his eyes on the door that's ajar. "Morris...uh, lieutenant...give us the rundown on the layout...what's through there?"

Morris says, "That leads to the kitchen and pantry, and stairs down to the basement." He looks around keenly.

Kylah takes a hesitant step toward the living room while eyeing Mr. Graham. "Should we split up to search, sir, while Lt. Morris checks to see if anything is missing?" Then she turns to the lesser-known human. "Lt. Morris, is there anything that the Iotians might have stolen, along with the captives? Some confidential data or intelligence that they would value?"

Graham nods approvingly at Kylah's initiative.

"Yes," he interjects before Morris answers. "We're alone in here according to the Doc's readings, let's keep it that way--Morris, make sure we're locked up tight front and back, then your discretion to advise us as Mr. Kylah suggested."

He shrugs. "I'll take the basement. If there are no objections, Dr. T'Var upstairs and Kylah the main floor. Mark the time: everybody affirmatively sounds off in five minutes sharp."

Graham's feeling comfortable in command--and would have been just as happy to follow Dr. T'Var's lead. But he momentarily thanks his lucky stars he has this fine little team rather than being stuck with Rangin's bullshit.

Morris says, "We have tricorders, communicators, data tablets and small portable computers here, and a mainframe and arms locker in the basement. We keep notes on our field studies and our dealings with the Syndicate leadership, of course, and that might interest the natives." He nods at Graham's order. "Yes, sir. Shouldn't take long." He goes through the door to the kitchen, phaser-1 in hand.

"Understood," T'Var says. She goes upstairs.

Kylah finds the main floor includes a living room, dining room, several closets and a bathroom. Almost everything is in the style of Twenties Chicago.

In the basement, Graham finds five small stacked Starfleet shipping containers, a fusion backup generator and, more appropriate for the period, sewer, plumbing and electrical hookups. The arms locker is still shut tight. He does not see the mainframe.

Kylah chooses to examine the closets first, and will then move to the living room if there is nothing unusual or worth noting.

Collins is amused by the random discussion of someone's private life amid all the rally related chatter

Graham rubs his chin. Good that the weapons locker is intact. They couldn't possibly have hauled off the mainframe...

He flips open his communicator. "Graham to Morris. I'm in the basement now. Where's that mainframe located?"

The closets have Starfleet-issue overcoats and gloves in them and little else that Kylah can see. The living room has Twenties-era furniture but nothing more modern than that.

T'Var comes downstairs and reports, "The bedrooms appear to have been ransacked. I saw personal belongings, clothing and the like, but no items of Starfleet technology there."

Morris also soon returns. "The back door was slightly ajar," he says. "Nothing's missing that I can see, though." Replying to Graham's query, he says, "It should be along the west wall, near the shipping containers."

In the auditorium, a man in Science blue steps up to a bank of microphones and holds his hands out. Rangin notices that he has the two stripes of a Starfleet commander on his cuffs. The crowd soon quiets down. He says, "My friends, welcome! I'm so glad you're here - those who already proudly wear the uniform of the Krako Federation, and those who want to know more, to learn of what is to come, and who will, I hope, swell our ranks even more, and join us." He makes eye contact for just a moment with Collins before his gaze moves on. "Because I have to tell you, the day has come at last - the day when we move ahead from The Book and what we now know to be a backward, obsolete society, and towards the future - towards the Federation! This is the time. This is the place. One man can lead us there. One man has the ideas and the passion. One man has actually been to a starship, and has a vision for the future that all our people will embrace. That man is...," as the crowd begins to clap and cheer, "...that man is none other than...," he grins, the room growing much more noisy, "your friend and mine, the leader we need, the leader we've all been waiting for... CAPTAIN JOJO KRAKO!"

The crowd goes wild as a stocky, balding man in Command yellow emerges from one of the stage doors and strides up to the microphones.

Collins is just a little startled when the speaker locks eyes with her, but she recovers just as quickly. When Krako walks out onto the stage, Collins thinks Hmmm, I thought he'd be younger than that based on what I'd heard and read. She also finds it odd that so many people are so willing to embrace this abrupt change to their lifestyle. She listens with interest as Krako speaks.

Graham double checks the area along the west wall, near the shipping containers--for the mainframe, as well as for any evidence that the area has been disturbed.

For the moment, Krako just basks in the loud applause and cheers that wash over him. Many of the uniformed people around you have jumped to their feet to cheer; those in Twenties garb have not, by and large.

Graham does not see the mainframe anywhere in the basement. There are scuff marks on the concrete floor that may or may not be fresh, but he can't tell by eye. There is no other sign of disturbance.

Kylah notices the coats and asks T'Var, "The clothing you mention... Was it this era's wardrobe, or were there Starfleet uniforms as well? Any remnants of official clothing would have value to those imitating Federation officers. If the kidnappers left the items behind, we can likely rule out that faction." She slips her hands in any coat pockets to see if there are weapons, communicators or tricorders to be found.

If she does not find any, she will ask Morris:

"Forgive me if this is a repeat question, but I do not remember... did you say whether others in your group kept phasers on them, as well? If so, we should assume their attackers took them." Her voice is grim. "The prospect of such technology in ignorant and careless hands is..." She does not bother finishing, as the others will surely feel the same way.

She will continue to look in the remaining rooms--the dining room, kitchen, and bathrooms.

If she does find the weapons etc. she'll make note of that to the others and continue to search.

Graham scowls and tunes his communicator to reach the team.

"When someone with a tricorder has a chance, come down here and give me a hand. I think out bad guys dragged out the mainframe."

Leaving the weapons locker undisturbed--a serious bunch of weaponry anyone familiar with an old-school pistol or rifle could figure out how to point-and-shot--but taking a computer the they couldn't possibly know how to make the most of puzzles him.

T'Var says, "It was a mix of local garb and Starfleet uniforms; mostly the latter."

Morris says, "We would carry phaser-1s if we thought we were in any particular danger, such as if we were going into a bad neighborhood, but typically we went unarmed."

Kylah finds no gadgets in the coat pockets, and little of interest elsewhere on the first floor.

Morris goes downstairs to the basement with his tricorder. "Dammit, you're right - they took the mainframe!" he blurts.

Curious how the apparent kidnapping might have occurred, Kylah goes to the front door and examines it for any sign that the attackers forced their way inside. She then considers the facts known thus far. Though she was not downstairs to hear Mr. Morris's response to Mr. Graham's question, if the mainframe is indeed missing, a significant piece of foreign technology has been moved from this building. There should be nothing like it elsewhere on the planet.

She contacts Mr. Graham and simultaneously looks at T'Var for guidance, speaking to both of them. "If the mainframe has been stolen, shall I contact Lt. Thalen to see if the Yorktown's sensors are strong enough to scan for traces of our technology? Surely this mainframe has a larger signal 'footprint' than the communicator left behind by the Enterprise."

Rangin goes along with the polite applause given by the people dressed as he is instead of the more enthusiastic clapping. The Krako Federation sounds a little more interesting though, and it looks like they just walked straight into a power struggle for control. If they are anything like Coridan there would be a fair amount of bloodletting soon.

Looking closer at the man on the stage, Rangin tries to see if the uniform is a little more realistic than the others. Then he waits to see what rousing speech Krako can give that would divert the locals from s life of crime.

Krako holds up his hands to quiet the crowd, and Rangin sees that he has the two-and-a-half braid stripes of a Starfleet captain on his cuffs. Rangin can't tell much else about the uniform from this distance.

Krako finally begins to speak. "I'm so glad you're here. Look at this crowd! And I know why you're here. You're here because you're tired of The Book. You're here because you're tired of the crime, of the payoffs, of the Syndicate. You're here because you know there's a better way - the way of the Federation! An interstellar society - worlds by the hundreds, by the thousands! Alien races! Starships, phasers, communicators! And that can be ours, too! We can reach for the stars, live among the stars. Is that what you want?"

"YES!," the crowd roars.

"I knew it. Because that's what I want, too. And that's what we're going to get. Because Okmyx has had his chance; he's done. Don't you think?"

"YES!"

"He's bled us dry long enough, and we don't need him anymore. Isn't that right?"

"YES!"

Krako beams. "That's the spirit! Yes, yes, and again yes! Okmyx and his capos are the past; you, all of you, and your captain - we're the future. We know a new way - a better way - the way of the future. Out there, among the stars. Once we thought The Book held all the answers - but now we know better. Kirk and the others, they showed us! They saw how misled we were, how far astray we'd gone, and they came to show us a better way. The Federation way." At once, his expression darkens. "But, my friends, brace yourselves, because I have some bad news for you here today. I wish I didn't have to tell you this, but I know I have to...."

Collins gives Krako her full attention. At first she thinks that this movement could be a good thing - to bring this society into the world of tech and space flight. But when the speaker changes moods, so does she. Quietly, she says to Garcia and Rangin "Here it comes. the 'kill all bookers' speech. Earth's history is full of this kind of political tactic, and nothing good can come from it."

"Very good, Mr. Kylah," Graham responds. "Please request a briefing from computer specialists on Yorktown as well: what is the unit's capabilities? what security measures is it equipped with? Why in their opinion would someone from a, uh, primitive culture steal it?"

He shrugs, looking at Morris. "Well, it's not here, so we might as well head upstairs."

Kylah turns to Morris before she contacts the ship. "Perhaps you can answer Mr. Graham's questions? Regarding what security and data the system contains?"

Half-listening to whatever he may answer, Kylah gets in touch with Lt. Thalen and quickly updates him on the circumstances. When she finishes explaining the missing mainframe, she asks, "Might our sensors be able to locate any unusual energy patterns in or around the area? A computer of any kind, much less Federation technology, both uses and generates far more energy than these primitive electronics. What do you think, sir? I know we scanned the planet earlier to no avail, but now we have homed in on a more specific location."

She hesitates, then adds, "On the other hand, whoever took it might not have figured out how to connect the system, in which case it will not be traceable. But it might be worth a try."

Krako says, "As you know, the Federation - not our Federation," he says to scattered laughter and applause - "the real Federation, has observers on our world, people from Starfleet, committed to helping us and to making it possible for us to join them someday. Right here and now, among us. We owe them our gratitude and our help, don't we?" More cheers and calls of "Yes!" "Of course we do. Well, my friends, I'm sorry to report that they've been kidnapped." There are gasps and groans. "Yes, kidnapped. A terrible crime, terrible. I wish it weren't true, but it's true, it's happened. Bela Okmyx and his cronies in the Syndicate don't want to join the Federation. They want to keep following The Book, and to keep us in the bygone era of the Twenties. So he's kidnapped the Starfleet visitors and wants to use them to pressure the Federation into going away, into leaving us alone, still ruled by him and his crooked thugs. Is that going to work?"

"NO!!!!" is the cry.

"Absolutely not. It's not going to work - we won't let it work. Never! You have my word as your captain. Even now, my crew is searching high and low for our friends in Starfleet. We're going to find them, we're going to rescue them, and we're going to show the Federation that it has friends here, good friends, friends who value their help...."

Morris says, "The mainframe is a portable SC42-D3 unit. Much less powerful than a starship's main computer, of course, but more than sufficient for our purposes. It has all of our reports and data since we arrived. It doesn't have to be connected to anything - you can access, input and download directly from it, and it has its own display screen. It's codelocked, though, and I doubt the Iotians could access any of it. Unless...." He looks worried.

High above them, on the Yorktown, Thalen acknowledges Kylah's report. "We'll begin scanning for the unit at once, Ensign. Stand by."

Collins casually moves so that she is behind her two crewmates in order that they block the view of her taking out her communicator. As she moves she whispers to Rangin and Garcia "I wonder how he knows? I wonder if he's really behind it?"

She signals Graham "Collins here," she says as quietly as possible and still be heard on the other end. "Krako knows about the kidnapping. Wanna ask Morris how that can be?"

Graham turns his attention from the team and Morris' worried look to take Collins' hail. (In fact, he's relieved it's not trouble given that she's been saddled with Rangin.)

"Will do, L-T," Graham replies. "FYI our kidnappers didn't take boo from the weapons locker, but they did make off with the outpost's mainframe."

He lifts his head away from the communicator. "Hold that thought - sorry to interrupt," he says. "Morris, the other team's found out that Krako knows about the kidnapping. Any ideas how or why?"

As earlier stated, Collins and her shipmates are seated, and the auditorium is too packed for her to do that and not be noticed by the many Iotians around. She thinks she got away with it this time, though the likelihood that she will be seen increases with each passing second.

Morris frowns. "Krako has people everywhere. It's possible he had this house under surveillance when the kidnapping took place, or he's heard since from his sources among the other capos - in or out of the Syndicate."

Kylah, still waiting for Lt. Thalen, hears Graham's words to Morris. Her mouth parts slightly with her inhale. She struggles to remember the various gangs and syndicates and names. "Excuse me, sir, did you say... this Krako, the same man who is the Syndicate leader's rival? He told them he knows about the kidnapping? How could they have made contact with such an important man so quickly? And why would he have revealed such knowledge to our team? Unless..." She bites her lip as her imagination tries to pull the scarce facts together. "Perhaps he caught them out, and captured them. Or at least one of them. And Lt. Collins--that was her, was it not? Did she sound nervous? As if she were hiding?"

Collins quickly sits down, and decides that, here on in, she will text.

Graham rubs his chin, thinking over Morris' comments. "Each player keeping an eye on our people does make sense," he replies. He's pulled out of reflecting on the information by Ens. Kylah's comment.

"Ah--actually, I didn't think much about it, but there was a lot of noise--it kind of sounded like Collins was at a--I don't know, a party or a concert or something."

He clears his throat. "I don't think she was in danger. Uh, so, Morris - you'd seemed alarmed about the mainframe a minute ago--?"

Krako talks for a few more minutes and then wraps up his speech, saying, "A new day is dawning, and this world will never be the same. If you've already joined the ranks of the Krako Federation, thank you, and I know you're ready for the work ahead. If you haven't joined yet, I hope you will today. Onward, my friends, onward to victory!"

The crowd cheers loudly and many people surge forward, trying to shake Krako's hand as he greets people along the edge of the stage. Most of the audience head for the exits, talking excitedly.

Morris says soberly, "I was thinking, whoever took the mainframe might not be able to hack it, but they could try to threaten or torture my shipmates into revealing the code."

Thalen reports from the Yorktown, "Mr. Roble has some ambiguous sensor readings that might be the mainframe, about eight km south of your current location."

Collins turns to her shipmates. "I suggest keeping an eye on Krako, and when the crowd thins out, approach him and ask how he knows about the kidnapping." She looks to Rangin for confirmation or a different plan.

As Collins speaks, she and her shipmates are jostled again by those streaming for the exits.

Collins' hands tighten around her bag.

Kylah looks in disbelief at Mr. Graham, then turns away slightly so her expression is not too visible. Obviously he trusts Collins more than he does Kylah, because he seems unconcerned and even incurious about where she is, much less how she could possibly have spoken to Jojo Krako already.

After a deep inhale, she reports: "Lt. Thalen says that they have picked up a reading that might be the mainframe. Eight kilometers from our current position." Back into her communicator, she says, "Thank you very much, Lieutenant. Is it possible to give us approximate coordinates? It is probably unwise for us to beam there, since we wish to avoid witnesses, so any details will help us travel ourselves."

Collins is able to hold onto her bag despite the milling crowd.

"Yes," says Thalen. "Here are the coordinates." He reads them off, and they also appear on the tiny screen of Kylah's communicator texting panel.