Campaign:SBRD/Synopses/Chapter 02 Nexus

SBRD Chapter 02: Nexus

SBRD Ch.02 Nexus: Synopsis pt.1

IC Posts: #1 through #72
Postdates: 2013-09-22 through 2013-11-06
In-Game Dates: 3731-08-15 through 3731-08-22

Fortunate Son, along with close escort Leozard, entered Jump from Devonia system en route to Nexus system. While in Jump, most of the crew worked on fixing various items on Chief Engineer Max Black's "short list" of needed repairs, using parts and spares purchased for that purpose back on Devonia. Medical Officer Doc Freeman completed his treatment of passenger Nero Vulpinerrin for the gunshot wound he had taken just before take-off from Devonia. Assistant Engineer Leo Henry repairs the inoperative Engineering Bot and assists on other repairs.

Navigator Donoma Lafitte checks for discrepancies in Library Data about Nexus and notices that official sources from Nexus itself and from other worlds in the Delphi Union are very favorable about the Leader and how he has brought greater freedom and prosperity to Nexus, while other sources seem to regard the Leader as just another dictator who saw a bandwagon and grabbed the reins to put himself in charge, with financial and materiel backing from the Delphi Union in exchange for preferential treatment. Sources from Devonia and the cluster around Ostia are especially critical of the Leader's policies favoring merchants and shipping firms from the Delphi Union.

Passenger Lester Jordan (Nero's assistant/bodyguard) asks if anyone is interested in some freestyle brawling practice in the open space in the cargo bay; Security Chief Gayne Maize and CPO Bruno Kansakarrir have gotten in some sparring practice with Jordan, occasionally with other crew watching or joining in. Jordan proves to be an extremely skillful fighter and a helpful instructor.

Captain Hampton Rhodes and First Officer Kalos Thar take Nero and his wife, Marisa Vulpinerrin, plus Jordan and Nero's financial assistant Wawepaba, on a tour of the ship. Marisa reveals in conversation that she and Nero were both formerly in the military services of the Imperial Realm of Daibei (she in the Navy, he the Marines), but retired and moved to Devonia after their homeworld (Duurmurze) separated from the Imperial Realm.

Fortunate Son exits Jump into Nexus system at 2105 on 3731-08-21, nearly a full day ahead of schedule. Sensors show the ship's position right at the 100-D limit from the mainworld, Nexus XII-G, exactly as planned. The gas giant Nexus XII's orbit is far enough out that the system's F5 V primary is a tiny white dot, barely distinguishable from any other star in sight. Within a few minutes after Jump Exit, the ship receives a recorded comm from Nexus Traffic Control, advising that the ship is required to enter orbit around Nexus XII-G at its present distance until contacted by a customs patrol, and warning that any other maneuver may result in the ship being treated as hostile by system defenses.

After receiving a private recorded comm from Nexus XII-G, Hampton calls a conference of all crew to announce that he must leave for personal business of an unknown duration back on his homeworld (Wosi). He leaves Kalos in charge as Acting Captain and specifies a detailed plan for division of his own shipshares. He will be leaving the ship immediately upon docking at the Nexus Highport.

The customs patrol check turns out to be much less welcoming and much more formal than the checks experienced previously at Devonia; as Hampton puts it, "Sounds like the mainworld rating of Law Level 10 means that all Nexus officers are surgically implanted with a rectal stick and personality inhibitors." All of the inspection team are in combat armor and well-armed. The inspectors require that *all* crew and passengers assemble in the passenger lounge for processing, then issue Temporary Visitor Identification cards for all, advising that an additional permit will be necessary if anyone wishes to leave the starport. Due to the discrepancies in the manifest caused by the attempted theft and last-minute shuffling of freight before take-off from Devonia, the inspectors order Fortunate Son to undergo a detailed inspection of all freight and cargo at the Highport; the ship is also fined Cr250 "for having a transponder that does not accurately report the name of the current Captain according to the logs."

Lt. Quigley comms from Leozard: "As a foreign naval vessel from a state without any formal alliance with Nexus or the Delphi Union, we are being denied permission to approach any closer to Nexus XII-G or the Highport." Since Leozard cannot escort any further, it Jumps back to Devonia.

Donoma notices some unusual activity around the next moon outward, Nexus XII-H. Kalos sets course to dock with the Highport. Kalos makes contact via comm with Horace Brumley, an expediter in the Office of Trade and Development and seemingly the only friendly and helpful person in the bureaucracy that runs the Highport; he is able to void the Cr250 fine, and also sends Kalos current trade goods listings for the Highport and offers to act as broker for Fortunate Son's cargo, which offer Kalos declines.

Kalos, Hampton, Nero, Jordan, Gayne, and Henry meet to discuss the security situation expected at the dock. There are usually two Protectors (paramilitary police) stationed at dockside to control access to/from the ship. It is decided that Gayne and Henry will also stand watches at the ship's cargo lock until everything about the valuable Lanthanum freight it settled so it can be unloaded.

As with most modern space stations, the Highport has interior grav plates and thus no need to spin, and has maneuvering thrusters to maintain its orientation and keep it steady to simplify approach and departure paths. It does not even orbit Nexus XII-G, the mainworld, but rather maintains a position nearby on the side of the mainworld away from the gas giant Nexus XII.

Kalos completes docking maneuvers under the supervision of Hampton. Hampton stands and offers his hand. "Good work, Captain. Nice to know my baby is in good hands." He turns to Donoma for another handshake, which she maneuvers into a goodbye hug. "I've said my goodbyes to everyone else aboard; now you two play nice and take good care of my ship, and I hope I'll be seeing you again somewhere in this region of space in a few months." He backs away and heads toward the iris valve, which dilates open for him. "With your permission, Captain, I'll go on ashore and be on my way." Kalos replies, "Permission granted, Captain. Fair winds and safe sailing."

SBRD Ch.02 Nexus: Synopsis pt.2

IC Posts: #73 through #122
Postdates: 2013-11-06 through 2013-12-29
In-Game Dates: 3731-08-22 through 3731-08-23

Fortunate Son has docked at Nexus Highport, above the system mainworld, Nexus XII-G. Captain Kalos Thar makes an announcement for the passengers about procedures to disembark, and then to the crew about his plans to 1) recruit a new Pilot with at least a Level Two certification; and 2) once all of the Lanthanum has been cleared and unloaded and Fortunate Son has been paid its share, buy as many TL-11 grav vehicles as they can afford, then sell these back on Devonia where they are in high demand, then take the ship to Freehold for some refitting.

Kalos does some research on past-90-days sales data for their cargo and Nero's Lanthanum. He comms Horace Brumley to get a link to all Nexus trade laws and regulations to study in his spare time.

An inspection team comes aboard to search all of Nero Vulpinerrin's freight containers to verify the contents. It appears this inspection may take 2 or 3 days. Since someone from the crew and someone from Nero's company will need to observe the entire process (but not interfere, as they are told by the inspectors!), Chief Engineer/Steward Max Black sets up a snack table with pastries and drinks, which the inspection techs are happy to indulge, but the Protectors are not allowed to partake.

Kalos decides to go ashore to try to make some trade contacts, especially if he can find anything in the profitable "small package trade" (smuggling), and more information on possible connections to Nexus XII-H (which is supposed to be abandoned, but Donoma had detected a ship landing and other energy sources). He takes Security Chief Gayne Maize and CPO Bruno Kansakarrir along as muscle, since all weapons are prohibited under the stations Law Level 10. Kalos leaves Navigator Donoma Lafitte in command while he is gone, with Medical Officer and Cargo Chief Doc Freeman as second in command. Assistant Engineer Leo Henry will be responsible for security at the station inside the main cargo doors.

Kalos, Gayne, and Bruno get hassled about ID by some Protectors, then make their way to the "Accomodations and Restaurants" sector, which is what passes for a Startown on this Highport. They choose a high-end restaurant/hotel, the Nexus Prime, and are initially snubbed by the maître d until Kalos hands him a hefty tip. With a little more cash incentive, Kalos makes a contact through the bartender with "someone with information on the activity at Nexus XII-H," a commcode written on a napkin. Kalos and Gayne also enjoy a fine (and expensive!) dish of crottled greeps, while Bruno prefers a roast beef sandwich. Kalos calls the commcode and is instructed to return to the hotel at 1930 and ask the maître d for Mr. Blake. The group returns to the ship.

Upon return to the Nexus Prime, the group (Kalos, Gayne, and Bruno again) are escorted to a luxury suite where they meet Nirid al-Bhakar, known locally as Mr. Blake. After questioning Kalos about his past history and reasons for seeking him out, al-Bhakar pauses, then looks at Kalos directly and says, "Hate is an unpleasant place." Kalos tries to think of what this may be in reference to, and responds, "If Hate is the port at XII-H, or H-8, I am sorry but I have never been there myself so as to have any opinion of it."

Al-Bhakar smiles, as if Kalos has passed some test. "No, according to my files you have not. For one who has been there, the proper response to that statement is, 'But sometimes it is the only place to find what you need.' You would do well to remember that. Actually, those of us doing business there prefer to call the port Nexus-Under, but the nickname Hate persists from old days and you should respond appropriately if you hear it used. Now, gentlemen, please eat whatever you like from my humble table, and please excuse me as I reference my datapad on some business related to our meeting tonight."

After some perusal of his datapad, al-Bhakar pauses to look to Kalos, and when Kalos has finished chewing a bite of some salty stewed fruit, asks whether or not his planned itinerary could accomodate a freight shipment to Freehold. "Yes," replies Kalos. "In fact our current plan is to carry a cargo back to Devonia, then jump from there through Ixion to Freehold, where we have some business to transact." "Excellent," states al-Bhakar. "If you would be interested in adding a small but profitable freight to that trip, I would like for you to meet with Mr. Harris Niven at The Black Thumb on Nexus-Under." He slides a black datacard to Kalos. "This will act as your passport to Nexus-Under, and will also identify you to Mr. Niven as being sent to him by me. Mr. Niven will be acting as my agent in this transaction; if the two of you are able to reach agreeable terms, it would please me for you to carry this small freight to Freehold. And now, let us enjoy our meal and speak no more of business!"

Upon return to the ship and finding the inspection almost complete, Kalos announces liberty will be available to all crew for the expected week of signing up passengers and freight; Kalos has contacted Brumley to place an announcement of the Fortunate Son's next port of call as Devonia. He also notifies Nero Vulpinerrin, who thought he might wish to book passage back if his business at Nexus in concluded.

By 0545 the next morning, the inspection is completed and Kalos is called down to sign off on the Revised Manifest so that the cargo and freight can be unloaded. The final freight quantities were determined to be 36 dTons of Special Minerals and 12 dTons of Lanthanum. Kalos offered the weary Doc Freeman an immediate 48 hour liberty, and suggested the Nexus Prime in response to Doc's query about a high class place where he can find a game of cards. Wawepaba is also exhausted and asks Kalos to hold the freight onboard until it is sold.

Max puts out some requests for bids on replacing some of the ship's computers and other electronics with TL-11 upgrades. The first to return Max's comm is Arjun Rahaman, of Feziota TechPlus. They make an appointment to meet at a coffee shop near the docks.

Within a few hours of the Revised Manifest being completed and signed, and before it has been officially released, Kalos is already besieged with calls about the cargo and freight.

• Teodor Raspinov of Guthrie & Sons makes a bid on the Wood, asks questions demonstrating that he already knows exactly what kind of Wood is being carried, and is upset when Kalos wants to wait for other bids before making a decision.

• Indira Hemingway of Nexus Traders LLC bids on the cargo of Wood and also the ship's small portion of Lanthanum, however what she really wants is to get a deal on Nero's freight of Lanthanum and Special Minerals, and she offers Kalos a kickback/bribe if he can arrange it.

• Inushuvir Grant of Smith-Grant-Paulson Factors also bids on the Wood, but is not interested in the small cargo of Lanthanum unless it can be combined with Nero's Lanthanum freight.

• Eneri Kilshanivi of Kilshanivi Metal Brokers is brusque and almost rude, is not interested in the Wood at all, but makes an offer for any Lanthanum he can buy, and/or the Special Minerals if Kalos can arrange a deal.

Kalos figures that Grant's offer is the best on the Wood. Kalos works over the various bids on the metals and sets up a presentation for discussion with Nero; it appears that the best deal will be to sell the Lanthanum to Grant and the Special Minerals to Kilshanivi. Then, just as he is thinking that it has been a productive morning with pleasing prospects, he receives one more comm...

There is no incoming holo signal, only voice. "And don't bother expecting any, either!" says a cold, machine-altered voice. "If you aren't recording, you'd better start now. We don't care what other offers you or Vulpinerrin get for that Lanthanum, you tell him he's taking our deal or he'll never see his wife alive again... just assorted pieces which won't be nearly so pretty. The Lanthanum gets offloaded at this asteroid [coordinates] no later than 1800, 3731-08-29. That asteroid isn't in the Nexus Belt; it's a stray, out ahead of Nexus XII in this same orbit. In case you haven't got it figured yet, it will take you 125 hours to get there at 3-G, which means you'd better get your ship cleared and get moving by 1300 tomorrow, and you'd better believe it can take you that long to get cleared here on our nice, law-abiding, redtape-loving little moon. Within 48 hours after you offload the Lanthanum and start your burn back toward Nexus XII, Marisa Vulpinerrin will be released alive and unharmed on the next moon out from here, Nexus XII-H. She can catch a shuttle back here from there; I wouldn't advise you trying to go there after her without an invitation, they have a tendency to blast trespassers into shiny, glowing debris. And hey, just to show we aren't thieves, she'll have a credit certificate worth Cr43M... [the cruel laughter is made even more sinister by the voice-alteration program]" The connection terminates.

Kalos comms Nero and asks to meet with him; informs the crew, plays the recording for them; arranges to confirm the sale of Wood to Grant and have him offload it; then goes to meet Nero.

SBRD Ch.02 Nexus: Synopsis pt.3

IC Posts: #123 through #159
Postdates: 2013-12-29 through 2014-01-07
In-Game Dates: 3731-08-23 through 3731-08-23

Fortunate Son has docked at Nexus Highport, above the system mainworld, Nexus XII-G. Captain Kalos Thar has received a comm from someone threatening to kill Marisa Vulpinerrin unless her husband Nero Vulpinerrin delivers his freight of Lanthanum to a distant, isolated asteroid. Kalos is on his way to the Nexus Prime hotel to inform Nero of this development, and encounters Doc Freeman on his way back to the ship.

+Two new PCs are about to make their appearance.+

Kolya Bogdan, an old friend of Kalos, currently using the cover name Victor Rotha, is at Nexus-Under on XII-H and needs a ride outsystem ASAP. He sees that Fortunate Son is insystem and Kalos is listed as Captain, so comms Kalos to query if pickup is possible. Kalos comms back that the current situation is complicated, but they may be visiting Nexus-Under soon and he will keep "Victor" advised. [Kolya/Victor's backstory]

Speaker to Humans, a Droyne Sport who had travelled aboard Fortunate Son several months before, recognizes Kalos and Doc in the corridor from the docks, and approaches them to inquire about possibly working for passage if the ship is bound further into the Deep. Knowing Speaker's useful shipboard skills, including his Pilot Level One Certification, Kalos agrees and invites Speaker to come along with them to meet Nero, so that he can learn of the current situation before he commits himself to travelling with them.

Chief Petty Officer Bruno Kansakarrir oversees Crewmembers Janna Vilshiggur and Benjamin Chance in unloading the Wood and transferring it to Grant's transporters. Protectors on the docks give Bruno a hard time and fine the ship Cr100 for petty offenses. There is also a mishap with a broken strap and some damage to one bundle.

Meanwhile, Navigator Donoma Lafitte has been plotting courses to the asteroid dependent on departure time, and also using her sensors to mark and trace three interesting ship trajectories. Chief Engineer/Steward Max Black has been dealing with uncooperative bureaucrats to get the ship cleared to leave the Highport. Assistant Engineer Leo P. Henry has been warming up the powerplant to prepare for departure. Security Chief Gayne Maize amuses himself trying to start a conversation with the dockside Protectors while examining their equipment.

Kalos, Doc, and Speaker arrive at Nero's room, and Kalos breaks the bad news that someone is claiming to have kidnapped Marisa. Nero immediately attempts to comm her but receives an out-of-service message. He tries to comm Jordan but gets a message that the requested comm is in service but not answering.

Nero raises his hand as if to throw the comm violently, then restrains himself and directs his IA to connect him to Ames-Dalton Interstellar Security. "This is Nero Vulpinerrin," he identifies himself to the IA that answers. "Client code [code]. I am here on business, staying at the Nexus Prime." Apparently the IA switches the call to a live human, but Nero continues in monotone. "Record this all, and get it to Heather Dalton as soon as I disconnect. My wife Marisa Vulpinerrin is out shopping, accompanied by our security man Lester Jordan. Your files have full data on both of them. I have just received a threat against Marisa's safety. Keep the Protectors out of this unless absolutely necessary to protect Marisa's safety. Marisa's comm is [commcode] and is not showing any connection. Jordan's comm is [commcode] and is showing a connection but no answer. Find my wife and associate NOW and assure me of their safety. You have my financial data. This is urgent, high priority, to Niflheim with the expense. I am going now to the trader ship Fortunate Son, docked here at Nexus Highport. Report to me there as soon as you have anything. That is all." He disconnects, shoves the comm in his pocket, takes a body pistol from his locked nightstand, and goes back to the ship with Kalos, Doc, and Speaker.

Brushing past the dockside Protectors' ID check, Kalos strides aboard, motions the others ahead of him, and closes and locks the cargo doors. He then makes a general announcement for all crew to meet in the passenger lounge immediately. In the lounge, he replays the kidnapper's message for all to hear.

Nero's comm chimes; he pops in an earbud to take the call, his frown getting deeper as he listens and asks occasional questions. When he ends the comm, he turns to face the group. "That was Heather Dalton, partner in a security service I have used here before. Her team found Jordan; he's dead, and Marisa is missing. Marisa's comm was at the scene, smashed. She said it looks like a professional snatch, but by someone who didn't care about bystanders; in addition to Jordan, there are two dead store clerks and one other, assumed to be another shopper. They just killed everybody inside, probably stunned Marisa, put up the "Closed" sign and locked the place up. Her team were careful not to leave any traces of themselves, and re-locked it when they left, but eventually the Protectors are going to find the scene and get involved. I hope you people can help me; we can get investigative support from Heather's firm, but they don't really do a lot of bodyguarding or have a lot of shooters on staff."

Donoma stands and announces that she has some interesting sensor data on three ships:

• "The port admin here is very stingy with sharing data, but the transponder identifies this ship as независимость, under Captain-Owner Fyodor Fyodorovich Daniskolov, 200-ton Type A2 Far Trader. The ship departed Nexus Highport at 1145 this morning, and appears to be on a standard 1-G flipover course for that asteroid where the kidnappers have instructed us to take the Lanthanum. Won't know for sure until they reach midpoint and flip to decelerate, but there is nothing else of interest that I can see out along that track."

• She directs Alfred to display another ship course that she had marked for tracking. "This one is a 100-ton Fast Shuttle, with no ownership or anything besides an ID code on the transponder. It departed at 1215 from Nexus XII-H, that mystery port that is officially closed, but according to your Mr. Blake is actually not. What makes it interesting is that it appears to be on a 4-G course to the same destination asteroid, so it would arrive substantially before either независимость or Fortunate Son."

• "And now one more, most interesting for timing and for destination. A little bitty 30-ton Boat, not good for much cargo, but it left Nexus Highport headed for XII-H at 1105, right before the kidnapper called Kalos with his demands. Again, nothing but the ID code on the transponder, but maybe Nero's investigators can find out more. Seems to me that might be the kidnappers taking Marisa to Nexus-Under; it's making 6-G, so ETA would be about 1900 this evening."

Although some of the crew feel that Marisa is already as good as dead and the kidnappers' deal should be rejected, Nero is firm that he must appear to go through with the transfer, all the while working to rescue Marisa as he doesn't trust the kidnappers to release her. This means the ship needs to head out toward that asteroid, although hoping that Marisa can be rescued before the arrive for the delivery. "You know, whoever did this had to either have prior knowledge, or have acted on the spur of the moment with some assets already available to them. We hadn't even started shopping the Lanthanum around until after the re-count was complete, and our manifest wasn't available to the public. How could they plan something like this if they didn't even know that we had arrived with a load of Lanthanum?"

Nero is pleased when Kalos reveals that he has a few assets that are almost certainly unknown to the kidnappers: 1) an agent already in place at Nexus-Under, his friend "Victor Rotha"; 2) a passport to go to Nexus-Under without being shot at, courtesy of Mr. Blake; 3) a contact to be made at Nexus-Under, Mr. Blake's man Harris Niven.

Max suggests: "One way to know about the cargo and get here as fast as us is to travel as a passenger or crew on this ship. Do we know where everyone who jumped in on Fortunate Son is?"

Donoma looks around. "Well, all of us and Nero are right here. Jordan is reported dead and Marisa kidnapped. Nero, where is Wewepaba?"

Nero shakes his head slowly. "I can't believe that Wewepaba would be involved with something like this. He has been with me for years, and his people have traditions of loyalty that we Humans can only admire with envy. However... I will ask the investigators to track his movements and comms since we arrived in-system."

Max also suggests looking into surveillance recordings, and Nero responds that he expects those to be included with the investigators' next report.

SBRD Ch.02 Nexus: Synopsis pt.4

IC Posts: #160 through #192
Postdates: 2014-01-07 through 2014-01-12
In-Game Dates: 3731-08-23 through 3731-08-23

Fortunate Son has docked at Nexus Highport, above the system mainworld, Nexus XII-G. Marisa Vulpinerrin has been kidnapped, with the demand that her husband Nero Vulpinerrin deliver his freight of Lanthanum to a distant, isolated asteroid. The crew and Nero are gathered in the passenger lounge to collect and analyze intelligence about what happened and brainstorm how to rescue Marisa.

Nero receives a comm from Protectors HQ, but is starting to feel the stress from worry about Marisa and grief from loss of Jordan (known that man 25 years - one of my best platoon sergeants, before he got called to OCS - best friend other than my wife), so at first does not answer. Then he decides to call back, and speaks with a Detective Foley but soon gets into an argument about sharing info and hangs up on him.

Speaker asks: "Who knew of cargo of Lanthanum on ship besides crew, custom officials on arrival, and owner?"

Donoma lists a large number of people on Devonia who knew or could have known, but then rules them out by checking her datapad and confirming no other ships from Devonia to Nexus during relevant time. Also crew of Fortunate Son and all passengers. "Here in Nexus system, we had a customs inspection boarding, so all of that crew, plus whoever got reports they sent in. Then the re-inspection at the Highport, there were at least three shifts of techs, plus the Protector goons standing around watching, plus whoever got any of those reports and the Revised Manifest. Plus apparently at least a few brokers who got copies of the Revised Manifest under the table, because Kalos was getting bids within an hour after that was done, and I'm not sure the thing has even now been officially released yet."

Contact is made by laser comm with "Victor Rotha" so that he can be included in the conference, although with a small lightspeed delay.

Heather Dalton comms Nero with her next report, and he puts her on holo so everyone can see and hear. She asks that her information be treated as a confidential trade secret, then reveals that although Nexus law prohibits citizens from getting into each other's data, the Protectors snoop into almost everything, and Heather has access to the Protectors' data and comm systems.

She also reveals that supposedly encrypted comms routed through port or other public systems are broken by spoofing key exchanges, so the Protectors have access to all, except that Heather has blocks in place to prevent the decryption or recording of important comms to or from herself or anyone in her office.

Heather passes over a data packet with her reconstruction of the kidnapping. "You'll be able to examine that reconstruction on your own holo, but let me give you the highlights of our conclusions. There were at least two shooters, probably both armed with Snub-MGs or some other automatic weapon firing similar ammunition. One shooter was firing Tranqs, the other was firing HE. Med-scans of all of the deceased surprised us by indicating that all of them were first knocked out with Tranq, then shot and killed with bursts of HE rounds. The wounds and spatter around the two clerks and the one we believe was another shopper indicate that those three had already dropped to the floor, unconscious, before they were killed by the HE rounds."

"The exception is Lester Jordan. Jordan had an auto-injector for Tranq-antidote. My personal experience suggests that he would have been stunned for a second or two by the burst of Tranq rounds before the antidote was fully effective, may have dropped to one knee but did not fall, and judging by the wound patterns and spatter around where he fell, was on his feet and possibly fighting with the Tranq shooter when the HE shooter killed him."

She turns to look directly at Nero. "Sir, the conclusion that Jordan was fighting to the last is also supported by bruising on his hands, arms, and knees. You and I have both seen similar bruising before, when you used to make us practice unarmored hand-to-hand against an armored opponent. He was probably trying to take the one out of action to use him as a shield against the other, but didn't make it in time."

As soon as Heather pauses, Gayne interjects: "Those are exactly the weapons carried by two-person teams of Protectors. The probability that they were wearing combat armor makes it almost certain that these were either Protectors or someone using Protector gear as disguise."

Heather takes another sip of her drink, then continues: "Most of our work so far has been on this reconstruction, based on our holo scans of the scene and our med-scans of the bodies. But there is one more interesting factor that popped up as soon as we tried to access surveillance recordings. All surveillance in a radius of ten blocks around the scene was blocked for a period from 1045 to 1115 this morning. From body temps, we estimate that the snatch and murders occurred at about 1055 this morning. Note, I am not saying that there were recordings and I can't get to them; I'm saying someone else got into the system and blocked it all out so no recordings were made. We'll be working to trace and see who did that. We'll also be following our SOP of examining recordings from around the blocked area before, after, and during the block, but that will take time and possibly some luck. Fortunately we have facial recognition software to help."

Heather asks if she should make an anonymous tip to the Protectors to get them involved, and Donoma tells her they are already involved, as Detective Foley had called Nero about it. Heather is upset and confused that any Protector involvement did not show up in her monitoring of Protector comms.

Speaker suggests that it appears to be an inside job, Bruno adds that they should check on Protectors on leave of absence, and Max suggests finding out what Protectors were involved w the cargo inspections. Heather responds that she will check those things, and comments that the system Law Level really applies only to the common people, that the upper levels of society (those w close connection to the Leader or the Delphi Union) is extremely corrupt.

Bruno asks who should be handling the case under standard procedures. It would be the patrol team that discovered it, plus detectives and CSI from Protector HQ.

Nero pounds his fist and reminds that these questions are all very interesting, but only insofar as they might lead to location and rescue of Marisa. Jordan is dead and he will avenge that later, but priority now is Marisa.

Kalos suggests that Heather direct efforts at finding out why her information on Protectors seems to be blocked, as that might lead to who took Marisa and where she is now. Heather agrees that is certainly a high priority.

• 1) "Ms. Lafitte flagged several suspicious vessels -- three, I think. Information on their crew and records would be helpful in eliminating them as suspects."

• 2) "As discussed previously, any information you can gather from going through the Protectors' payroll histories and schedules could provide some suspects to question."

• 3) "A further analysis of the security recordings in the area around the camera blackout could hopefully help us identify who took Mrs. Vulpinerrin. Even if you can't find any sign of her after the kidnapping, that too could tell us something."

• 4) "I'd like you to vet the detective Mr. Vulpinerrin spoke to and determine why you haven't yet heard about any official investigation. If someone is covering this up, or if the Protectors are aware of your infiltration of their systems and keeping you in the dark, we need to know."

• 5) "Alfred, please forward a full list of all the bidders who have contacted me since our arrival in Nexus, as well as records of all their calls, to Ms. Dalton. In fact, please also send recordings of my calls with Mr. Horace Brumley to Ms. Dalton as well -- aside from the Customs team that boarded us when we entered the system, he was the first to hear about our cargo. Ms. Dalton, please check to see if any of these people have had any suspicious contact with the Protectors or any known criminals."

• 6) "I'm also sending you a copy of the kidnappers' call for any analysis you may be able to do."

• 7) "This last is rather a long shot, as I'm sure any obvious connection would have been discovered by now, but I'd appreciate it if you could look into who allows Nexus Under to exist."

Nero calls Lt Shan at Protectors HQ, apologizes for prior response to Det Foley, and provides med-scan to confirm ID of Jordan's body.

Kalos sets up another meeting with Mr. Blake for 1830, same place as before.