Chapter 3 - The package

Rena is quiet as she looks over the large stone, her interest seemingly piqued after she meets up with Elan and Lola at the site.

"Definitely be good to find out more information on it. Better we know what the sheep graze, the closer we are to seeing which are actually wolves. Lets see what Rena says."

A strand of hair had got loose and had started to hang annoyingly down her face. Loosening one of her hair ties, she gripped the hair tightly together again a secured it in a fluid practiced motion while continuing her conversation.

"That sounds like a good read. In that case they may be limited in how hard they are able to force their way, which is to our advantage. Though part of that will depend on just how shiny this rock is."

Watching his face while he thought, she considered her own thoughts. She was no fan of religion but robbing this poor community just to profit themselves was something she would go along with. Nodding at his answer, she replied.
"See just how deep her faith goes, and how many riches would fill it."

Rena walks around the boulder and takes a closer look. Feeling the material, she is wondering why it is so dark. It's faintly rough, it could be related to the structure. If the surface has the right sized groves, the light might bounce around and cancel itself out. Like egg cartons on the wall of every young bands first rehearsal room. But what material could this be? Her first thought is carbon, but it seems different. Not even sure whether it is natural. Could be, but it's definitely exotic. Definitely extraaldegial. Maybe a comet that hit the planet a long time ago. Scientifically this thing is priceless. But Rena wouldn't know who could make a quick buck with this.

Once away from listening ears, Rena relays what she learned about the rock, omitting the term 'extraaldegial' for Elan's sake.
"This is the closest thing to alien I've ever seen first hand. The right team working on this could discover the next leap in human advancement!"

She clears her throat to disguise the excitement in that last inflection. "But if I can tell that much from a cursory examination, then so could anyone else..."

Lola listened to Rena's explanation, chewing slightly on her bottom lip. She wasn't expecting to really have any real understanding of how the rock might be as it was. A good impression of its expected value, to others and possibly to them. And what kind of danger it might represent.
"You said scientifically priceless but its not the kind of thing that could be easily sold, which would make me think a couple of things."

She intertwined her fingers and cracked them against her chest before continuing.
"This rock. Its got some level of value. The donkey sucklers want to intimidate their way to it. We've got a couple of choices. We could just leave this all and go for a saunter elsewhere. Or we talk to the priest and square this all by getting them a fair price and convincing IN to pay it. Or we talk to the priest and see about getting this stone offworld ourselves. Personally I favour the third though actually getting the stone out, also under the eyes of IN will be breaking down a wall using only our heads. What do you two think?"

Elan comms the rest of the team.

<<Graham, Taelor, the coast is clear. The neighborhood is safe enough to congregate. Can you join us here so we can huddle up about next steps? Please and thank you.>> ]

When the group is together, they can compare notes.

"We can talk to Brother Martinez but I can't imagine any scenario in which he would sell The Mother. Nor can I imagine that he would be willing to move The Mother, but I suppose the topic can be broached.

"But once we open discussions we need to have if/then possibilities mapped out. If he won't sell and won't move then we can warn him about IN, but that hardly improves his position. We can have a pointed talk with IN about what they're doing here and how it's in their personal best interests not to, but even if we chew up a few execs they'll just find more. Normally I would suggest that we could trick them with some clever hacking, reroute them toward a new location via rewritten electrons, but if they're really after the rock then they won't be fooled.

"I suppose would could do an intel op to find out what IN is really after - the rock or the lot - but that involves a fair amount of risk for no certain reward."

Graham and Taelor, having recently arrived at the ship with fresh equipment and decorations, get the notification from Elan on their compads. Graham takes a quick glance "Well, looks like Elan is calling in the big guns" and with a sheepish grin, corrects himself. "And by big guns, I mean one big gun and one plant-killing machine", making a small, subtle motion pretending to flex his bicep.

//On the way, coming from the ship now.//

"This will just take a sec..." he mutters to Taelor, rummaging through one of the shopping bags. "Aha, there it is" he says with some satisfaction, pulling the needlepoint 'Live, Laugh, Love' sign from the bag. He runs off to the crew quarters, finds Elan's bunk, and quickly attaches it to the wall near Elan's pillow. He eyes it for straightness, ironically, then runs back to Taelor, still standing there. "The disco ball will have to wait. Let's go."

"I must confess that finding such a primitive form of idolatry on Aldega is not beyond suspicion. Perhaps these people know more about the stone's true value than they are letting on?"

Religion wasn't something Rena was strictly opposed to, though in her limited travels it seemed to be the deeper, more philosophical questions that people sought divine answers to. Worshipping a meteorite was definitely something you would expect to hear about on some recently discovered lost world, one without much more interesting and inherently magical wonders such as planetary intranet, maglev transit, and access to the sort of advanced wares Rena was known for. Why in all the worlds was such a cult able to flourish to the point that their existence stood in the way of a corporation as powerful as IN? Something didn't add up, and for a chemist there is nothing more vexing.

Graham and Taelor ride the rails to Cradock and reconnect with the rest of the crew. Together, they find a tavern to sit and compare notes over a pitcher of a Brand(TM)(C)(R) brew with a forgettable name carefully chosen by a Marketing Team to be anything but.

Once up to speed, Taelor makes a face. "I don't understand why you want to get mixed up with a big corp again. Do I have to remind you how the last time turned out?" She shakes her head in disbelief.

"We have a ship, leads on some easy jobs to line our pockets... Once we've earned enough to add a few bells and whistles to her, then we can go get into some trouble."

moarhair wrote:

"I don't understand why you want to get mixed up with a big corp again. Do I have to remind you how the last time turned out?"

Graham gives a slight shrug. "Technically, the last time turned out pretty well, by trading two things, one of which we didn't even own, for a ship worth half a million credits. So you might say that went rather well." Graham gives her a grin, with a thoughtful twist of his mustache. He takes a swig of Brand(TM)(C)(R) brew, mentally comparing it to the swill of a spiced beer on Astyoc.

"It was the time before that with the missiles and the bullets and the trained killers and such, so we're swinging a solid 50 per cent." He laughs slightly before adding, "But you're right, there's always a danger when a corporation is involved. Can't underestimate that. Our alternatives have pitfalls, too, so it seems prudent to see if we can manage a solution. If we can't, we shrug and say 'Sorry, IN, not much we can do for you here'. If we can, then we knock it out, collect our winnings, and get out of here."

"What's everybody's take on the situation?"

He settles back, looks at his glass of Brand(TM)(C)(R) brew, and listens carefully.

Elan shrugs at Rena's doubts.

"We live in a universe where someone can people can see the future, teleport 1000 kilometers away, and regrow missing limbs and organs. In a universe like that, where's the line between magic and technology? And if there isn't one, then where's the line between religion and science?

"To the matter at hand, I'm inclined to flip the tables on the slitches at IN. I can do it on my own if no one else wants to get involved. Could be as simple as telling Brother Martinez what's coming, could be as involved as having a private conversation with Mrs. Bhilwada what I think about her plan."

The team has been sitting for a while discussing back and forth which way to turn, staring out of the window over the street at the temple, or whatever it is. The third pitcher of Brand (tm)(c)(r) is just being served, when Elan notices a fancy gravcar pulling in in front of the temple. Two strong persons with shades get out and stand next to the entrance, after which a man in a suit gets out and walks into the temple, the muscle stays in front of the door in leisure military stand, scanning the surrounding.

Lola took a deep drink from her glass and set it down on the table, brushing away the remaining foam from her top lip.
"Science, religion, magic. The value in having the original picture above an exact copy. Collecting antiques. Nostalgia. There's many things I don't understand or care about. As long as they limit the harm they cause I'm happy letting live. When it comes to skinning the nose of those Donkey Sucklers I'm lend my arm."

Thanking their server she starts to pour out the beer into everyone's glasses.
"My turn to play pochet gost."

Grahams busy fingers immediately get to work and try to find out the owner of the car. Through a couple of queries in the right databases he finds the owner to be a corporation called Overwatch Alliance registered for Transport and Cybernetics. It's a big company, but on Aldega it is one of the smaller corporations.
Looking deeper into Overwatch Alliance, Graham finds nothing tying the corporation to Cradock or to Innovative Networks.
The results are primarily composed of press releases about products, quarterly numbers or meaningless sentences pledging the good intentions with their products and services.
The main branch seems to be machine assisted asteroid mining and interstellar transport of goods.

Graham takes a moment to take some quick video through the window, making sure to get the gravcar's plate, and the two goons. He laments not getting a shot of the suit, but he wants a record of the timing in case something goes wrong. The car, the men, and the suit all seem distinctly out-of-place in Cradock, and he wants evidence in case something happens to Martinez.

"This seems odd, doesn't it? Why would these guys be here? They don't appear to be IN, and seem to be connected to a company that does asteroid mining and transport. Could they be after the Mother? Or has Martinez called them to transport Sarandanis?"

He tries to be subtle, in case the goons see him. He lowers his compad whenever their gaze shifts toward the restaurant, only to put it back up when they look away. Whether he's successful or not, he doesn't know.

He listens to the table discussion distractedly, but his mind is on what's transpiring outside.

Elan elbows whoever is sitting next to him to call attention to the gravcar.

"Curious," he says when Graham produces his findings.

"Hey, I'd like to hear what they're talking about. Someone run interference for me with the muscle while I slip inside."

Taelor nods. "On it. Graham, could you follow me out and just stare at me from across the street until Elan is in?"

She stows her knife under her jacket in order to appear unarmed, then slips the power cell out of her dataslab. She stands, heads outside, then crosses the street.

"Hiiii! OMG, how long has it been?" she says at one of the security guards. She smiles at them apologetically. "I'm sorry," she says, lowering her voice, "could you guys help a girl out? My dataslab is out of juice and there's this weird guy with a mustache following me. Could you just pretend you know me for a few minutes until he goes away?"

After following Taelor out, he stands on the street pretending to look around, with his gaze always settling back on Taelor and the two goons. He tries to not look creepy, until it occurs to him that the goal is to look at least a little creepy.
Fortunately, there's a women's clothing store next to the restaurant. He looks at Taelor, then back at the robotic lady mannequins......Taelor....mannequins.....Taelor.....mannequins.....goons....Taelor......goons....mannequins....
He maintains the ruse, waiting either for a message to come through on his compad, something happens with Taelor, or he gets arrested.

The guard looks at Taelor and then at Graham and answers with a faint sneer "That guy? Just ignore that creep. He seems more interested in those mannequins than you. Now move on please, this is a temporarily restricted area."

Elan knows the drill. It helps that this neighborhood feels familiar to him, with sights and sounds and rhythms very similar to where he grew up and honed his trade.

It's a little dance, he likes to think, where the other party doesn't know that they're dancing.

He comes from the corner opposite of Taelor, hugs the wall, uses his skinny stature to imitate a lamp post, and then - once Taelor breaks the silence - slips in through the door behind the security types using the slimmest of openings. Does his hand flit through the guard's back pocket on his way by? You can't tell: only a hummingbird could catch Elan at work.

Once inside, he does his silent-walking thing as he looks to find a position where he can hear the conversation between the Brother and the Suit.

Elan quietly slides into the familiar room. The relatively dim lighting make it easy for him, to get in unnoticed and find a spot to hide behind a statue in one of the corners. The man in the suit and the priest stand close to the statue in the middle and are in an intense discussion. The priest is calm, but the smile in his face is gone. The man in the suit is less centered and talks louder while gesticulating with his arms.
"... but the stone was given to this community by the Mother, it is not mine to give away or, Mother forbid, sell."
"Ah, common, drop the hippie act, how much do you still want? We both know it's a crime to leave this rock rotting here with those people just chanting about. Who's gonna know if it is a different rock? I'll get you another asteroid. But this... This has to be studied! We need to take samples, analyse them see what we can learn! How can you not see that? "
"I understand your desire for knowledge and respect your enthusiasm. But our temple and our gift are here and are here to stay. I cannot help you."
"Geez, your lot is all the same. Fine, but I will be back and the next offer will not be so generous!"
The suit man turns around and stomps out, leaving the priest behind.

Elan scowls. If there's a chance to pick the suit's pocket, he'll consider it.

Once the man is gone, he shoots a quick message to the team.

<<Suit is a buyer. Brother Martinez is a true believer and declined.>>

Once sent, he approaches Brother Martinez.

"I heard the exchange," Elan says. "Would you like to talk about it?"

Elan is trying to be polite. He'll force the conversation if Brother Martinez demurs.

Lola's attention had been away from the window, but as she started pouring out the picture, she quickly noticed the attention it was getting from the others. While the three went out to see if they could get any further information, she remained in place with Rena and the drinks. There was a good view from the window and sitting here provided better cover than just standing out on the street. Sure if anything did happen, she'd be slightly delayed but short of another squad turning up, or some heavier equipment they were fine where they were.

Resisting the urge to tap the weapon by her hip, she instead took another drink and looked over at Rena. The medic was probably the one she'd talked to least on the ship and knew the least about. She was a bit of chemist apparently? Her eyes still on the window, she felt a buzz from her data pad, and checking it quickly, she saw Elan's message.
"It looks like I was wrong. Apparently there doesn't seem to be a price the church will take. This might all get a bit messy. I wonder if it might be better to get the story of this out. Might restrict IN if there are other greedy mouths coming for the same prize. There's at least one corp here who has ongoing issues with them."

"Of course, of course," Elan nods sympathetically.

"Forgive my intrusion into the matter; I don't know all the tenants of your faith, but nor do I want to see the corporations claim what isn't theirs.

"Is there a middle ground that's possible? If the Mother was given to all of us, would it be possible for the scientists to study her without taking samples? Spectral analyses and the like.

"If they can't be reasoned with and you don't feel safe, would you want to move the Mother to a more secure location?"

Elan doubts that this is an option, but he knows Graham will expect him to ask.

Thelonius wrote:

The guard looks at Taelor and then at Graham and answers with a faint sneer "That guy? Just ignore that creep. He seems more interested in those mannequins than you. Now move on please, this is a temporarily restricted area."

Taelor blushes and stammers, trying to sell her con, but the guards aren't biting. She hurries down the street and turns the corner, returning to the bar by the rear entrance.

She sighs as she sits down at the table with Lola and Rena. "Maybe one of you should've done it... Seems I'm not credible as a damsel in distress..." she says, sounding disappointed. She reconnects her dataslab's battery and sees Elan's message. At least he still got in.

"Pour me another one, would you?" she asks Lola.

With Taelor gone, Graham now feels a little stupid. He stands all alone in front of the lady's clothing store, ogling the robotic mannequins. He offhandedly wonders if they can be programmed to mix and deliver drinks on the ship. Or carry 'Live, Laugh, Love' signs with a mirrored disco ball.

Eventually, Taelor pops into view back in the restaurant. He resists the urge to go back in. Hanging with Taelor at a table seems like a good way to arouse suspicion from the goons, though he doesn't think they'd notice. Still, Elan is in the temple area with Martinez, and Graham is the closest thing to backup that Elan has at the moment. He wanders to another shop window. "Ah, housewares. This looks far less creepy", he muses, eyeing the latest innovations in self-setting silverware.

He shakes his head slowly. "Shit, this is dull. I'd almost rather look creepy staring at undergarments on fem-bots..."

He's determined to stick around until Elan is out again. He looks at the suit's gravcar to see if anyone else appears to be inside. He makes a note to check that out, if and when the door opens again. But for now, it's a study in Aldegian carrot auto-slicers, self-leveling soup spoons, and vibro-knives that will carve through a wildebeast in nanoseconds.

"Everybody is welcome to spend time with the relic and if they want to scan it, I won't stop anybody.
But why move the relic? It has to be available to the community, so it can't be hidden, then what do we gain? Plus, it would be very expensive. We'd have to widen the stairway and then pull it up with a crane or something. We could never afford that. "

"I agree," Elan says, trying to sound conciliatory. "But I'm trying to gauge options. What if some corporation comes in with a bunch of flesh-eating lawyers and tries to force you out through legal or extralegal means? I don't put it past them. As long as the bottom line shows a profit with a reasonable return on investment, they will do it. In that case, moving the Mother may be the best way to make Her available to the community."

Elan thinks, tapping his chin. "It's entirely possible that there's a Third Way here. Marketing, making the Mother a pilgrimage site, advertising Her presence so that if anyone comes along and tries to take the property, it will be obvious to everyone what they're really trying to obtain.

"Let me loop some people in on this." He updates the rest of the team on the conversation, inviting them in to share ideas.

moarhair wrote:

She sighs as she sits down at the table with Lola and Rena. "Maybe one of you should've done it... Seems I'm not credible as a damsel in distress..." she says, sounding disappointed. She reconnects her dataslab's battery and sees Elan's message. At least he still got in.

"Pour me another one, would you?" she asks Lola.

Reaching over with the pitcher, Lola pours Rena a full glass, and shrugs her shoulders in a friendly fashion over at the other woman.
"Don't really think the problem was with you. Despite his talents Graham doesn't look like a threat, 'specially for one like you. If I'd been out in his place...."
A smile suddenly crossed her face and she raised an eyebrow.
"They'd have paid much more attention. He doesn't have the eyes of a hunter. Like we do."

Feeling the buzz at her hip, she retrieved her data slab and set it out on the table, and then started to type, using her her two forefingers.
<I like the sound of the Third way. How about trying to get some pet scientists down to examine the artefact properly to test what exactly it can do? Perhaps also some religous figures who can see if these have any 'miraculous properties'? If word gets out that giving the stone a stroke will cure backache due to its incredible density or whatever they'll get all manner of pilgrimages. As you say, the more the word gets out about this, the less the Donkey sucklers can do.> [/quote]

The priest looks up at Elan with a surprised and interested look. "Yes, pilgrims, that is a great idea. The bigger the movement the worse the PR nightmare for the corporations. I will let my community know to spread the word, wherever they go.
Can I offer you another tea, while we wait for your friends?" , he gestures over to the chairs offering Elan to sit with him.

In the meantime on the outside the man in the suit can be seen storming out, clearly unhappy with the result of the meeting. Passing the guards he snips his fingers without looking at them, gets into the opening door of the gravcar and the car drives of, as soon as the guards get in. It quickly disappears in the higher areas of the canyons of buildings that are the reason practically no natural light reaches the streets.
The fluorescent light of the temple shines unimpressed by the problems of men.

Nitafrong wrote:

"Don't really think the problem was with you. Despite his talents Graham doesn't look like a threat, 'specially for one like you. If I'd been out in his place...."
A smile suddenly crossed her face and she raised an eyebrow.
"They'd have paid much more attention. He doesn't have the eyes of a hunter. Like we do."

Taelor blushes, then looks down at her glass of beer. "Yeah, that probably would've worked better..."

Her dataslab vibrates on the table, louder with the resonance. Taelor sees Lola grab hers and start typing. She takes a large sip of Brand (TM)(C)(R) beer, then picks her slab off the table before it can make the annoying vibration noise again. She reads Elan's message, then Lola's. Why do they want to get involved in this? To help the people who aren't paying, no less! Fucking hell...

She puts her dataslab back in her pocket and returns to her beer.

Her message finished Lola slid the pad back into its hip pocket, and took a drink from her glass, her eyes glancing casually outside as the man exited the building and after calling his guards, all three disappearing into the car and away.
"I'd be curious who exactly they were representing."

Glancing back at the other two women, she reviewed their silence. Rena looked like she was off in her own world. Taelor though had clearly read the message, but had nothing to add. While their short time together had showed something of the others characters, Lola wasn't quite sure on their motivations. This seemed as good a time as any to try and see where they stood.

Looking over at Taelor, she gave a curious look and asked
"This job not really grabbing you by the tail?"

Taelor makes a face. "No, not really. I'm not eager to piss off the people who just gave us a ship. A ship still sitting at their docks. They could lock it down with red tape without much effort, you know?"

She takes a sip and grins. "Besides, I left home to get away from rock-related business."

Lola gave a brief shrug of her shoulders and a smile in return. It was to be expected really. Experience had taught her that in any group, there were only a minority who shared her desires to overturn the world as it currently stood. And generally even less among those who had to actively scrabble to ensure their survival. It was what it was. Everyone had their own priorities in living their life.
"Its a fair point. Anything we do here would have high risk and low reward."

Her elbows on the table, she clasped her left fist with her open right and leaned her chin down to rest on the triangle. Raising her eyebrows, she gave a sudden full smile, her eyes alight.
"Still though. I'd love to see them burn."

After a second she pulled back and reached over to take a drink.
"But that's just campsite dreams. Maybe be better to pick up this passenger and get back into the void for a bit."

Elan accepts the invitation and visits with Brother Martinez. He suspects that his alcoholic friends are busy boozing and burping instead of sipping tea and thinking of eternal things.

Graham watches the suit leave in a huff with his mooks. "It's about damn time..."
He walks back into the restaurant to his friends, who have gone back to their drinks. He laughs as he approaches the table, "That was fun, hanging out in front of the lingerie store, looking like a perv." He smiles a stupid smile, "On the plus side, I was able to find something frilly for Elan..."

He grabs a seat, tops off a few glasses, and pours himself another glass.

"So. Did we get what we needed?", as he takes a pull at the glass.

Taelor opens her mouth to answer Lola, but Graham's return interrupts her train of thought.

She grins at the man's joke. "With all these gifts you're getting our master thief, I'm starting to think you've got a bit of crush, Graham."

"I think we got all we need. We just have to make a decision."

She glances at Lola, then at Graham. The firebrand and the businessman. Finally, she looks at Rena, who's staring out the window. "I think we also need to have a longer chat about what kind of crew we want to be. We've been thrown together by accident and I think it'd be a good idea to talk about our goals and shit."

Lola's eyes flicked up toward Graham as he joined them, and she gave him a nod. When Taelor responded, she gave the other an interested look. She hadn't noticed much flirting between the two but she wasn't particularly perceptive when it came to noticing attraction between others. Hopefully the attraction didn't only go one way.

She looked back at Taelor and Rena.
"A general conversation where we each make our marks would be good. I'm definitely curious."
Grinning, she continued.
"I've only fallen in with you in the last week. You've been very fair taking me off world but it would be as well to see if you are happy with me sticking about with you for a while. For the moment though shall we collect Elan and lay our votes down for our immediate next move?"

moarhair wrote:

"With all these gifts you're getting our master thief, I'm starting to think you've got a bit of crush, Graham."

Graham gets a thoughtful look, "Not really my type", he says casually. "Just a supposition on my part, obviously, but I suspect he has one penis too many." He twists his mustache, looking into his beer glass, and chuckles as he takes another swig.

moarhair wrote:

"I think we also need to have a longer chat about what kind of crew we want to be. We've been thrown together by accident and I think it'd be a good idea to talk about our goals and shit."

Graham raises his glass to Taelor and Lola in recognition of the need for this conversation. He pulls out his compad and taps a message to Elan. //All clear up here. Hurry up, this pitcher isn't going to drink itself.// and hits send. He thinks about it for a moment, before sending another... //The next one might, but not this one.//

Elan frowns at his compad.

"It appears that they're not coming," he says, setting down his cup. "They prefer beer to tea."

He stands to say his goodbyes.

"The Mother has blessed you with a remarkable gift," he tells Brother Martinez. "But with it comes great responsibility. You must be a great observer, and look quite through the deeds of men." He juts his head in the direction of the departed exec. "Such men as he will never be at heart’s ease while they behold something that doesn't belong to themselves, and therefore are they very dangerous."

Elan shakes, or bows, or holds up a hand, or does whatever one does to physically symbolize your departure while on Aldega. He then leaves and heads across the street to where his friends are drinking what looks like carbonated fruit juice pretending to be beer. He scowls a bit, disappointed that nobody joined him in the chapel. Most of the others he understood, but he thought that Rena at least might express more interest in the fate of the rock, out of scientific curiosity if nothing else. He can't imagine that the Brand(TM)(C)(R) brew would have the least bit of effect on her seasoned system, and thus should have no interest to her.

The priest gets up with Elan and walks him to the door. He listens to his advice and nods in agreement. "You are a wise man. I will take your words and hopefully they will bring me help one day. Be safe my friend on your travels. May the mother watch over you."

Lolas compad chimes again. //I don't mean to be pushy, but if you are interested I could arrange a meeting with my friend Nazir Abdel. He is cool. Saved some money too. Let me know. //