Nuke66 wrote:Samantha inquires about any possible outbound freight.
Benjik doesn't have anything that is outgoing at present, but he might have some important correspondence that needs to be delivered to Ipscomb that he'd be happy to pay for a courier for (1,000 credits is the usual rate for special item delivery if your route would already take you there).
Loraine enjoys most of the meal and the sight seeing in silence; occasionally speaking to her fellows here and there; but mostly just taking it all in. It was a MUCH different way to experience the other worlds out there as opposed to being mostly stuck aboard ship like she was in the service....
Carter small talk along the way "Well yes three terms and not nearly as adventurous as Ike's terms sound. I lost my crewmates, my friends in that last trip how on earth I made it back alive even in my crippled state is pure will as far as I can figure. My ship was in as bad a shape as my own body. I just have to figure out what on earth it was that did that to my ship. To prevent it from happening again, if it has not already...." he sort of trails off a sevre look of pain in his face and eyes tells a story of loss and many other things. Then distracted by noticing the marauders "I don't suppose that is friends of some of the passengers we just travelled with? Maybe Vinnie selling his wares?"
“All men did have darkness. Some wore it in the form of horns. Some bore it invisibly as rot in their souls.”
― Paul S. Kemp, Shadowbred "If good people won’t do the hard things, evil people will always win, because evil people will do anything."
― Paul S. Kemp, Twilight Falling
Algrim Tirion Dwarf - HarnMaser Dalin Silverhand Dwarf Thief - Barrowmaze Elwood 'Dug' The Bounty Hunter Dwarf Swashbuckler - Hedge's Adventures in the World of Golarion Roan Gravelbeard Dwarf Fighter - Hedge's Greyhawk Adventures Torvik Shadowhood Dwarf Fighter/Thief - Nocturne
September, eager as ever to recoup his family's lost fortune, and thrilled to be present at such high stakes negotiations, is eager to do whatever is necessary to secure the sale. "Sure, let's go after this guy."
Vinnie and company "Then, we have work to do.
Vinnie gets the particulars of the man we are looking for (description, photo -if available, name and where he might have fled to) and asks the Priest to recommend an excellent hotel in this city (for later).
He also suggests that the Priest start asking around for any small cargos (say 1-5 tons) that might be for sale ... after our business is concluded, we may have some extra cash to spend.
Vinnie then books a 3-4 bedroom deluxe suite at the hotel for 2 days and leads his friends back to the hotel and town to make some arrangements (500 credits=$2000).
At the hotel, Vinnie will give the concierge a 100 credit ($400) tip and ask him to reserve a private room or banquet table at an exceptional restaurant for a party from 5 hours before liftoff to 1 hour before liftoff. Vinnie will also ask the concierge where they can rent a Launch (20 dTon) and discrete pilot to shuttle them around the planet , and inquire where they can get some tasers and pepper spray for self defense.
"welcoming humbly His light and proudly His darkness" - e.e. cummings
Cartershakes his head "I agree Ike. We are just some retired Scouts nowhere near being with out old scout groups. It is best we keep our distance."
“All men did have darkness. Some wore it in the form of horns. Some bore it invisibly as rot in their souls.”
― Paul S. Kemp, Shadowbred "If good people won’t do the hard things, evil people will always win, because evil people will do anything."
― Paul S. Kemp, Twilight Falling
Algrim Tirion Dwarf - HarnMaser Dalin Silverhand Dwarf Thief - Barrowmaze Elwood 'Dug' The Bounty Hunter Dwarf Swashbuckler - Hedge's Adventures in the World of Golarion Roan Gravelbeard Dwarf Fighter - Hedge's Greyhawk Adventures Torvik Shadowhood Dwarf Fighter/Thief - Nocturne
The land-rover, as a bit of tourist gear on a planet that sometimes has trouble with smugglers, has a tamper-resistant console and a fixed communicator that can transmit on one band only--the municipal emergency frequency--but can receive on a number of frequencies, all within the commercial range (for entertaining music or talk radio while traveling). Since the vehicle is open-topped, the communicator is accessible via a jack that plugs into your vac-suit and has a set of large, simple, clearly-labeled controls.
Benjik agrees to forward information to Vinnie on the fellow being sought and bids them farewell.
Vinnie immediately goes to work securing lodgings of the highest quality for the group, and manages to get a corner suite in the best hotel on the planet, the Trieste Ironworks Platinum which enjoys a reputation as the only hotel worth staying at for visiting off-world dignitaries but generally doesn't get a lot of business since Trieste is, frankly speaking, a bit of a hole.
The concierge at the hotel is of the eager-to-please-and-well-connected type who clearly makes a good living from what he does, and he indicates that he knows of an unregistered launch that can be rented for 10,000 credits a day, pilot costs included, no questions asked and security assured. He can also provide basic personal-defense items on demand from his own collection.
About 90 minutes after taking their leave from Benjik, Vinnie and the crew receive a short dossier on the mark:
Occupation: Exo-maintenance (vaccuum-suit operations including construction and repair), specializes in dome engineering. Criminal History: None On-World Relations/Contacts: Byron Highwater, Brother; John Cline, Spouse; Miriam Istrik, Business Partner Address: 51462 South Palisade Complex, Dome 64
A security-badge photograph of Highwater accompanies the data, slightly grainy but quite legible. Highwater is slightly pudgy, with short dark hair and watery blue eyes. A shiny puckered scar mars his puffy left cheek and should make him easy enough to identify. A typed note signed "-B" indicates that many of Highwater's less savory associates frequent the nightclub known as Druther's in Dome 64.
DadsAngry wrote:Eugene - Navigator exploring beyond the domes
"Do you think we should alert the local authorities? There should be a communication device on the land-rover."
"If the smugglers pick up our transmission, we could be in trouble," answers Ike. "Let's call it in when we're safely in approach of the dome. In fact, we should probably turn well away now."
Carter"Sound advice if ever I heard it Ike. Yes let us radio it in after we are well out of the area."
“All men did have darkness. Some wore it in the form of horns. Some bore it invisibly as rot in their souls.”
― Paul S. Kemp, Shadowbred "If good people won’t do the hard things, evil people will always win, because evil people will do anything."
― Paul S. Kemp, Twilight Falling
Algrim Tirion Dwarf - HarnMaser Dalin Silverhand Dwarf Thief - Barrowmaze Elwood 'Dug' The Bounty Hunter Dwarf Swashbuckler - Hedge's Adventures in the World of Golarion Roan Gravelbeard Dwarf Fighter - Hedge's Greyhawk Adventures Torvik Shadowhood Dwarf Fighter/Thief - Nocturne
The group decides to turn the rover around and head back toward the safety of Primary. Now that they've got a feel for the handling of the machine and a destination clearly within sight, the going feels quick. Within ninety minutes they're within a quick sprint's range of the dome and feel comfortable opening the communications wave. After the switch is flipped, there's a brief moment of radiation static, and then a slightly distorted female voice comes up on the other end.
Vinnie - (wondering if we bit off more than we can chew)
Back at the hotel, Vinnie consults with September, Samantha and the hired Body Guards. "We are not out to kill anyone, but at the same time, we are engaging in somewhat high-risk, high-reward activities, so what sort of supplies might we need?
I was thinking that tazers and pepper spray would give us some non-lethal options ... an edge if we find ourselves facing a brawl.
What are your thoughts on getting some kevlar vests? Too much?
What about firearms? Would either of you like a pistol or a shotgun? I could never use one myself, but If you would like something extra to carry around ...
Is there anything else you can think of?
(to the concierge) We would like some of those plastic zip-tie handcuffs, just in case we taze anyone, I want to keep them out of the fight."
Keehnelf wrote:About 90 minutes after taking their leave from Benjik, Vinnie and the crew receive a short dossier on the mark: Name: Lorin Highwater Age: 24 Height: 5' 3" Weight: 145 lbs. Occupation: Exo-maintenance (vaccuum-suit operations including construction and repair), specializes in dome engineering. Criminal History: None On-World Relations/Contacts: Byron Highwater, Brother; John Cline, Spouse; Miriam Istrik, Business Partner Address: 51462 South Palisade Complex, Dome 64
A security-badge photograph of Highwater accompanies the data, slightly grainy but quite legible. Highwater is slightly pudgy, with short dark hair and watery blue eyes. A shiny puckered scar mars his puffy left cheek and should make him easy enough to identify. A typed note signed "-B" indicates that many of Highwater's less savory associates frequent the nightclub known as Druther's in Dome 64. 34 hours till lift-off.
Pulpatoon wrote:September to Vinne: "Should we inquire at his home, job, or the night club, first?"
Vinnie replies "I hate walking into a situation blind, so I think that we should start with some information gathering.
What we are not doing is kidnapping some guy so a dishonest merchant will pay a fair price for a cargo in high demand.
The fact that Benjik wants someone to kidnap him, means that something is going on.
So our choices are to do nothing, or to do something ... and I never made any money doing nothing.
I smell opportunity, but we need information."
As the Launch begins to liftoff, Vinnie uses his portable computer to search local news and internet for stories related to "Denner", "Lorin Highwater", "Byron Highwater", "John Cline", "Miriam Istrik", "Druther's", "Benjik", "Kamoor Temple", "Dome 64" ... with a special interest in anything related to any of those and "Police" or "Crime".
"Once we have some guess about what is REALLY going on, we will know what questions to ask when we hit the ground.
Working for us is the fact that this launch can take us anywhere on the planet in minutes and we do not trust Benjik or Lorin at this point."
Turning to Samantha "I think that I owe you something of an apology.
You wanted to try and buy some cargo and I seem to have dragged you into something ... 'else'.
So let me ask you, do you want to find out what is really going on and try to help 'Lorin' ... if he is caught up in something other than simply cheating a merchant?
Or do you want out?
If we do nothing, Benjik will hire someone else to grab him.
We must be careful.
Lorin may be a pawn caught up in something over his head ... and he may be a viper.
We need to find out which before we do anything."
"welcoming humbly His light and proudly His darkness" - e.e. cummings
Keehnelf wrote:Ike, Carter, Eugene, LZ: "Domeways Tourism, how may I help you?"
Eugene adjusts the squelch knob on the radio and causes high pitched squealing in everyone head set. The squealing doesn't stop until he then returns it back to it's original position. "Hi, Domeway Tourism, uh this is Eugene. Remember me? My friends and I rented one of your rovers. Well, while out exploring we saw some shady activity that we would like to report to the authorities. We were a good distance away but we think it was illegal trading of some sort, possibly smugglers." Eugene then reaches again for the squelch knob and adjusts it again causing more high pitch squeals to ring through everyone headset. And once again the squealing does not stop until Eugene returns the knob back to it's original position. "Domeway do you copy?"
"Uhhhh...well, what do you expect me to do about it? This is the rental-rover dispatch office." The voice sounds about as peeved as the words would suggest. Somehow the "emergency transmission" panel that was so clearly labeled still seems to have been unclear.
Keehnelf wrote:Eugene, Ike, Carter, LZ: "Uhhhh...well, what do you expect me to do about it? This is the rental-rover dispatch office." The voice sounds about as peeved as the words would suggest. Somehow the "emergency transmission" panel that was so clearly labeled still seems to have been unclear.
Eugene turns to his comrades "I don't think they are going to help us. I guess we should wait until we get back inside the dome and find someone who cares." Eugene pauses for a moment obviously in thought and then speaks again. "Did we take the additional rover insurance that they kept pushing? You know the one that would cover all costs to any damage done to the rover."
The concierge (his name is Robert Paulson) hands over a dozen plasto-elastic zip-ties (TL 10) that automatically constrict when the ends are snapped apart and three concealable tasers for the low sum of 100 credits (he expects the tasers back) to assist in your work, then bids you adieu. It takes almost an hour for the pilot with the launch to arrive at a docking platform atop Primary, but in the intervening time Vinnie has had the opportunity to do a few news searches.
Denner -
If one were to read only the mainstream news publications, it would be easy to come away with the impression that the Denner trade had not yet reached Trieste. However, Vinnie possesses both the computer-savvy and the knowledge of the workings of organized crime necessary to recognize that a system of coded datasites featuring holo-images of cats with inane captions are being used to transmit information on unrefined denner trafficking through Trieste, even on the planet itself. After some cursory inspection, the application of some high-TL meta-data trawling algorithms and a bit of napkin math, Vinnie estimates that the volume of denner trade through Trieste is valued at least 5,000,000 credits daily, and with a value that high it is highly unlikely that many residents of the system are untouched by the trade in one way or another. Even more interestingly, though the Kamoor Temple explicitly forbids use of or profit from denner resin (let's think of it as uncut heroin), a surprising number of the ships Vinnie tracks as being involved with the shipments bear Temple designations. The individuals most likely to be involved in the trade are laborers, mechanics, and those with access to vac suits or exo-transport.
Lorin Highwater -
Lorin's name brings up only one entry, a local human interest story. Three years ago, Lorin was at work repairing a solar collector transfer relay about 100km west of Dome 64 when a launch bound for Primary was struck by a meteor directly in the hull. It was skimming low over the rocky terrain, so the unexpected impact caused a collision with a ground structure and fragmented the ship. Lorin investigated the scene in his rover and discovered a lone injured survivor inside the wreckage, in a portion of hull that had miraculously avoided atmospheric contamination but was rapidly losing its own air supply. Lorin brought the survivor, a minor Kamoor Temple official by the name of Benjik, back in his spare vacuum suit, sharing what remained of Lorin's air reserve. Benjik recovered fully from his injuries, and for a week or so Lorin was lauded as a local hero, especially among the Kamoor of his native Dome 64.
Byron Highwater makes no appearance in the news, except as a minor note in the news story above that indicates that Byron lived with Lorin at the time of the article's writing (3 years ago).
John Cline -
Cline appears in a small number of blurbs on data-sites that indicate he is a small-time importer of exotic off-world goods. He owns a distribution house which does the vast majority of its business online.
Miriam Istrik -
Miriam is a well-known venture capitalist on Trieste with her finger in many different pies. She is the primary part responsible for the development of what Republic infrastructure actually exists on the planet, and is the majority stakeholder in the planet's Charter Trading Company office. It is unclear from the reports what business she might be in that includes Highwater.
Druther's -
From the glaring, flashing banner ads and the rotating images of grinding female human and semi-human forms, Druther's is a low-end gentlemen's club, but famous as a stop-over for interstellar celebrities who are looking to add to their notoriety. As a result, it's tough to get in and expensive once you're in the door, and a guaranteed rough night. While not especially dangerous, it is wild, raucous, and reputedly (though this has not been confirmed) owned by Samien Verge, the charismatic and sleazy scion of the Verge Cartel.
Benjik -
Benjik shows up repeatedly in minor news items and announcements related to his official duties representing the Kamoor Temple among the underclasses of Primary and Domes 12 and 28. The most exciting thing with his name on it is the news item above.
Kamoor Temple -
The Temple is the squeaky-clean arm of Kamoor tradition that serves as the government-in-residence for the Kamoor minorities on a number of planets in the region. It is a communications hub, a source of guidance and wisdom, and provides significant resources for the alleviation of the worse symptoms of poverty (to which the Kamoor are prone on worlds where they are not the dominant ethnic group) and world-specific maladies such as dome-madness or Argon Lung.
Dome 64 -
Dome 64 is among the poorest of the self-enclosed habitats on Trieste, housing approximately 9,000 residents, the majority of whom are unskilled or semi-skilled emigrants from formerly Kamoor-controlled space who were forcibly relocated through Republic "economic stimulus initiatives" to harvest some of the more valuable minerals from their new home. It shows up in over 126,000 distinct news items or opinion pieces over the last several years, the majority of which have to do with crime or civil unrest, making it hard to parse the info for something specifically useful.
---
Fifteen minutes after takeoff, the group's launch begins the approach to Dome 64, which looks from the air like a half-mile wide rusty metal egg sticking half out of the surrounding heavily-pockmarked landscape. The surface of the dome is rough and dull, with only a handful of armored plexi-steel windows offering a view of the desolate landscape around to the thousands of inhabitants. The large blue-white "64" that adorns the flattened top of the egg houses the dome's only landing port, with three small platforms and one larger one upon which a cargo flier with Temple markings is currently being unloaded on to an automated freight transport. The party exits the launch and are informed that the pilot can only remain docked for two hours at a time before he'll need to take off and re-file for a new landing pass to maintain a low profile, a process that itself will take about an hour.
