Last Voyage of Delilah, Episode 102: The Wolf You Feed
Air date: 02 Apr 2014
Present: Terri, Kim, Andy, Matt, and Maer
Jump to: Special Features
Saturday, 03 Feb 2525
Trans-U class, Delilah
En route to Anson's World
Between White Sun and Red Sun
We have a ping on our sensors. It resolves into a Bumblebee class ship, the Himawari. It's flying somewhat erratically and the engine seems to be functioning oddly. After some debate to hail the ship and render aid, Valentine vetoes the action in favor of getting to Anson's World quickly.
Not his ship. Not his problem.
There is some dismay amongst some of the crew over the decision, but Valentine is Captain and the order is followed.
Monday, 05 Feb 2525
We encounter a buoy during a sensor sweep. Odd. Is it supposed to be here? As we're looking into it, we pick up a shadow. Rachel calls Valentine to the bridge. Studying the signal, we determine it's another ship, sleeker and faster than ours. It's just hovering in the near-blind spot in our wake. It was only luck that allowed us to catch it there in the first place, otherwise it could have come right up and knocked on our door before we knew it was there. It's pacing us … is it hunting us?
Of course, the immediate conclusion is Reavers. We have Poco jigger the engine mix to make a nasty radioactive wash that yet won't kill us. We hope it will fool the predator out there that we're Reavers and should be given a wide berth. Nevertheless, we prepare for boarding.
If it's Reavers, we're toast. If it's pirates, we have a chance. As the other ship draws closer, we can tell it's a Series 03 Firefly. It's radiation output is normal. It's pirates. Yay!
Valentine tells Rachel to run, takes Tian aside, and tells her to rig up obstacles to slow the boarding party down. Meanwhile Rachel asks Poco to rig the engines to give her a boost. Vikki goes down to help. They get the boost in and wait for Rachel's signal to kick it in.
The other ship hails us. It identifies itself as the Fenris. Quake in fear of her. Prepare to be boarded.
Oh hell no. Rachel grabs the controls to jet out of there but accidentally trips the dead man's switch on the bridge and shuts everything down. As we scramble to get everything back online, Fenris blasts us with an EMP bolt. We're dead in the water and our life support is down again. There's no running from the pirates now. We're going to be boarded.
They're five minutes away. We take stock. We may yet have a chance if we use Delilah's ramshackle condition against our attackers. Valentine and Tian go down to the upper cargo deck to observe the boarding party, taking with them one of the few guns available. Valentine orders Rachel and Anatole to lock themselves up in the bridge. Rachel throws Vikki a pair of snips to cut the wires to the Engine Room catwalk. Two snips and Vikki and Poco should be safely barricaded in Engineering.
Vikki runs to grab half a dozen surgical gloves from the infirmary on the way. She'll fill separate pairs of them with ammonia and chlorine cleaners, making improvised gas bombs. If the boarding party gets near enough, she'll lob the loosely tied gloves at their feet and have the contents mix when they spatter on the deck. It might not be fatal but it would put a serious crimp in their day.
Valentine and Tian get in place on the upper cargo deck as Fenris docks to Delilah's rear ramp. The airlocks seal and cycle through and three men board our girl. They're kitted out in what look to be Alliance Naval uniforms, but they're worn in a non-uniform way. Bits of metal and other things adorn the uniforms like trophies from previous kills, and the uniforms are donned in various stages of dress. Half on, tied at waist, etc.
They are obviously NOT active military, just as it's obvious that they were former military. They enter with submachine guns and quickly fan out, covering the lower cargo deck and clearing it with military precision. It doesn't take them long to spot Valentine and Tian. They're ordered at gunpoint to surrender. Valentine and Tian do, but they remain on the upper catwalk. It's not like there's anywhere they could go where the men below couldn't find them or shoot them.
One of them calls their discovery in on his comm and the men wait for further orders.
Of course, the condition our ship is in puzzles them greatly. Valentine and Tian can see their expressions clearly. How in the Verse is such a junkpile still spaceworthy? What could she possibly hold that would be worth stealing?
Another pirate walks aboard. Big. Bald. Black skin glistening in an Aubergine hue, he looks every inch like someone in charge. He takes one look at our cargo hold and raps out an order: Cargo Manifest.
Valentine gives it to him. The man looks it over. Hmmm …
Meanwhile, Poco is busy rigging a booby trap onto Fenris: if she undocks from Delilah, she'll incur damage, possibly fatal damage. Mind, that damage might be fatal to us too, but if the pirates are undocking, we might already be dead anyway … or wish we were. He succeeds in rigging that trap.
Valentine watches everything carefully and judges the man looking over his manifest isn't actually the man in charge but close to the top. Perhaps First Officer of Fenris. That gives Valentine some room to maneuver. He parlays with the man, telling him that we've got nothing of value. Our vaccinations are the real deal and not worth stealing.
The First Officer orders one of the med packs over. One of the other men bring it. First Office scans it with a hand-held device and the results are obviously transmitted aboard Fenris where, we have to assume, the leader of the pirates is considering their next move.
The order comes in: leave them.
The pirates in our cargo hold look disappointed yet glad to leave. We simply aren't worth robbing and our ship would give any seasoned spacer the creeps. They filch a token amount on the way out but really, it doesn't make a difference to us.
The First Officer pauses at the airlock and offers to kill some of us to uphold their reputation as pirates … but his Captain overrides him and orders him back aboard, they've acquired a new target. The First Officer obeys and the moment the airlock cycles shut, Valentine shouts the all-clear.
Poco dismantles the booby trap in time to avoid Fenris setting it off. The Firefly flies off, most likely toward the hapless Bumblebee we passed earlier.
Whew! We've dodged the bullet.
But what should we do about the Bumblebee? Should we warn them? What good would it do? They can't outrun Fenris, we can't outrun Fenris to help the Bumblebee fight it off, and we don't have any weapons, regardless. It's a moral dilemma that leaves a bad taste in our mouths but Valentine is adamant: No. Let Fenris chase after other prey.
Not his ship. Not his problem.
His first duty is to keeping us alive as a crew and the ship from falling apart. He has a job to deliver Tian and Vikki to Anson's World and from there, please God let him make it to Beylix so he can scarp Delilah once and for all.
Please.
Poco gets our engines online and we make our best speed for Anson's World. There's damned little else we can do. As we get underway, Anatole reveals a little bit about his past to the amazement of everyone. He served in the Alliance Navy aboard IAV Trafalgar as stock clerk before the first U-War. The Tohoku class ship was responsible for supplying a multitude of other smaller ships in the Navy and his position oversaw that duty.
Monday, 05 Feb 2525
One day out from Anson's World
Delilah's current job is to ferry the IRP mission for a month. It's a month's steady work and one can understand why Lazarus Quick jumped at it. Once that month runs out, however, it's on Vikki and Tian to earn further funding for transport via good PR footage. In any event, they may not be on Delilah that long if Valentine manages to scrap her before the month is out. Poco even offers to do what he can to help Valentine dispose of the ship. In that case, Tian and Vikki are out of a ride and will need to hire another ship.
Best they get to earning their keep.
To that end, Vikki and Tian's destination on Anson's World is a little back of beyond place called Paderborn. The political situation on Anson's World is a little odd, a little Medieval, broken up in a scatter of fiefdoms ruled by lords. Paderborn is ruled by Baron Maximillian Feurbach. When we call ahead for coordinates, we're told the correct channel for the landing beacon to guide us in once we arrive. Set our transponder to Delta One-Niner.
Thank you, Paderborn Control. We look forward to seeing you.
Tuesday, 06 Feb 2525
Paderborn, Anson's World
Red Sun (Zhu Que) system
Flying low over the landscape, Anson's World looks mostly agricultural. Paderborn, in particular, looks positively Medieval: thatch-roofed cottages huddle in the shadow of a fortified castle on the hill above them. The castle has towers and one of the towers has an anti-aircraft gun mounted in it. The gun is vaguely aimed at the village below but could be brought to bear on those above.
Good thing we've got clearance to land.
Our landing pad is a cleared spot of dirt outside the village. We have ample time to look the village over as we slowly come to rest. There is evidence of subsistence farming and some trade surplus but overall, the village doesn't look overly prosperous. But we're not here to make a profit. We're here to help people and generate goodwill toward the Alliance.
We're hailed over the comms and told to remain with our ship until our escort arrives.
Um, okay.
Tian and Vikki prep their containers for deployment as we wait. Eventually a land-vehicle reminiscent of an Old Earth jeep drives up, carrying armed men. Our escort, apparently. Valentine and Tian step outside to meet them and they're ordered aboard the jeep to see the Baron at the castle.
Okay.
Once delivered to the castle, Valentine and Tian are shown into the Baron's presence. The Baron is clean shaven and exhibits an erect military bearing and he's dressed as a medieval Baron as befitting his status. Important, to be sure, yet his gaint and his face suggest that the man might be suffering from some sort of neurological impairment. Tian discreetly goes on alert, watching the man for further symptoms as she tries to pin down a diagnosis.
Of course, what he says once introductions are made isn't reassuring. He's suspicious of the IRPs motives and its representatives. He accuses Tian and Valentine of trying to poison or harm his people with the vaccinations. He tells them that he's heard reports of people taking the vaccine and falling sick, leaving them susceptible to manipulation and exploitation by the Alliance. It's clear he's convinced that the IRP has nefarious designs on him and his. Tian tries in vain to convince him otherwise. The Baron will not be moved.
Prove their good intentions, he says. He demands Tian and Valentine to vaccinate themselves in front of his people. Tian readily agrees, even though she has already been vaccinated and there is a risk associated with being vaccinated again. She's had time to observe the Baron and is convinced that the man is becoming mentally unstable, possibly due to TSE. If she can calm his fears and win him over, even in his paranoid state, she may yet be able to carry out her mission and not so coincidentally get out of Paderborn in one piece.
The Baron orders Tian and Valentine locked up until the assembly. Then they can prove their claims before the people.
Tian and Valentine are shown to a spare room containing a bed and are locked in. It takes very little effort to find out that they cannot get out or contact their crew. They are at the Baron's mercy. All they can do is wait.
Meanwhile, the hours pass and darkness falls without Valentine or Tian's return. The crew starts wondering where their doctor and their captain have gone. Rachel, Vikki, and Poco walk into the village with Anatole serving as their noble escort. As a landed Earl, he should have enough rank to allow them to walk into the village. They arrive and find everyone assembling in the village square. A bonfire is burning merrily. Torches ring the square all around. A platform above the dirt has been erected. It has a couple of poles with manacles hanging from them. The Baron is already there, whipping the crowd into a frenzy, declaring himself their protector from Alliance machinations. Behold, the vile deceivers have arrived to meet justice. This last is shouted just as Tian and Valentine are brought out in the jeep.
This doesn't look good.
The doctor and the Captain are roughly shoved onto the platform as the Baron gloats and stirs the crowds some more. His guards hover on the perimeter, armed and watching everyone. The villagers cheer and raise their fists, making a bloodthirsty racket.
It has elements of a lynch mob and a show trial, with the Baron listing the many crimes of the Alliance against the people of Anson's World, accusing Valentine and Tian of attempting to commit the same, all the while exhorting his people to trust him to protect them. He knows how to deal with perfidious outsiders from the Alliance.
As agreed, Tian is injected with the vaccine first as the entire crowd looks on. The Baron won't let her administer it to herself, but has one of his men do it. Tian instructs him on the procedure and endures his ham-fisted execution. She's ex-Navy. It's not that much different from Corpmen jabbing the macho squids down to size. Valentine is jabbed next. He manages to maintain his composure as well.
The Baron watches everything like a hawk and when the inoculations are done, he orders Valentine and Tian manacled to the poles for observation. We'll see, he declares. We'll see what their poison does to them, as they suffer the fate they would have inflicted on all of us.
And more crazy talk follows. Tian is convinced that he is mentally unstable from the TSE and though there isn't anything she can do to reverse his condition, there are means to ameliorate his affliction. Good luck in convincing him of that. The Baron struts and preens in his triumph, whips the crowd into a cheering mob. The cheer increases when the Baron orders a keg opened.
The beer flows, the villagers party down, and the bonfire crackles on.
Tian and Valentine have no choice but to stand there, thirsty, tired, hungry. Manacled to the post they cannot sit or lie down. Exposed on the platform, they weather the catcalls and occasional thrown vegetable (or worse), and swelter in the heat of the bonfire before them. The Baron retreats to his castle, presumably to watch from a distance. The guards withdraw a little, save for two who stand duty on the platform itself. Under cover of the noise, Valentine asks Tian if she knows how to pick the manacles' locks. She pulls a hairpin from her hair and gamely starts working on it as discreetly as she can. Valentine does the same with a cufflink.
Out in the crowd, Anatole, Rachel, Vikki, and Poco are drinking and dancing and fitting in (they hope) and trying to figure out a way to get their doctor and captain free. There is some debate as to method and they have to be careful not to draw the guards' attention toward them.
Valentine finds he's attracted the attention of someone in the crowd. A young woman, perhaps in her late teens, is eyeing him. Hoping to gain her sympathy and her help, Valentine shines her on with his expression, all the while trying to pick his manacles.
One of the platform guards tires of the duty and leaves to grab a beer for himself and his partner, reducing the opposition to just one. Tian succeeds in picking her lock but Val fails to pick hers. Luckily, his charm worked on the village woman and gives him the cover he needs to pick the lock on his.
In the crowd, Rachel sees what's going on and when the moment is right, she throws her pet rat Mortimer at the remaining guard's. Mortimer lands on the startled man's face and distracts him long enough for Val and Tian to jump free. Rachel and the rest of the crew peel out of there and return to the ship before the guards catch on. Meanwhile the young woman hustles Valentine and Tian out of sight on the fringes of the village, where they hide in a mill.
Once there, the young woman asks if Valentine and Tian are all right. Yes, they are. Introductions are made all around. The young woman's name is Janelle and she's worried about the Baron. Talk ensues as Valentine and Tian ask the woman for information about the Baron and the castle. Janelle is more than willing to talk. In fact, she asks Valentine and Tian for help. Something must be done about the Baron, she says. He's already imprisoned neighboring farmers on suspicion of livestock rustling. He claims they died during interrogation. Whenever he feels threatened, he holes up in the gun tower. He hasn't turned that gun on the village yet, but she fears the day is coming soon.
Twice, Valentine has squeaked out from getting involved. Not his ship. Not his problem.
And yet ...
Without Janelle's help, he might have become fuel for that bonfire. Tian might have too. There's no telling what the Baron might still do to his crew, to say nothing of what he'll do to Janelle if he finds out she helped them escape.
Valentine agrees. If they can take custody of the Baron, they can turn him over to the village Elders. That way the village can decide for itself where they go next. He asks for a messenger to take word back to the ship. Janelle leaves and returns with a youngster from the village. Val writes the note. The youngster takes off and delivers it to the crew.
Following the directions in the note, they leave the ship and meet Janelle, Valentine and Tian at the mill. Once there, Valentine tells them the plan. Using the information Janelle has given them of the castle layout, they will infiltrate the castle and take the Baron into custody, then deliver him to the Elders in the village. They decide to check the gun tower first. Despite the Baron's show of power earlier, the Baron is most likely to be found there due to his deepening paranoia and fear.
There is an old saying about man's internal struggle between good and evil: the wolf you feed is the wolf that wins. Trapped between two conflicting urges, Valentine leads his crew into the night, toward the castle and whatever happens next.
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