Episode 2. A-Team

Game 2.0 A-Team

Sunday, 12 Oct 2517 Juniper Springs Settlement - Jiang Yin

05:45 hrs, local time

After some consideration, we new hires have decided to parlay with the bandits in order to suss out their motivations, their numbers, their strengths and weaknesses…and then take them out. It's close to dawn and the Captain is still asleep, so we have some time to plan.

It's not known if the bandits have a permanent camp or where they come from or where they go. They are basically nomadic. However, they must have some surveillance on the settlement. Do they have an observation point in the hills surrounding the settlement? Do they have a mole or an informant in the settlement itself? Or is it just blind luck on the bandits' part? How else do they always know just when there's something good to snatch or just when would be a most opportune moment to strike?

Making plans is all well and good, but they'll amount to fuck-all if we can't arm ourselves. The Captain's got the only key. Rina's pissed because in all the commotion surrounding the mutiny-suppression action, she'd had the gun locker key in her possession yet neglected to make an impression of it. Damn. One golden opportunity squandered. It would have been a cinch to make, using putty for the impression and the grinding tools in the workroom to cut a copy. A hacksaw blade would have sufficed for the blank. Oh, well. They'll just have to get the guns the hard way: convincing the Captain to release them.

Since the Captain spaced two people without compunction on very little evidence of guilt, we're not holding out much hope he'll agree to put weapons in our hands.

Nika is a hard sell as well, not being entirely on board with saving the colonists. It's not our job, we didn't sign on to do it, what difference could be possibly make and so forth. Christian is committed to it, because it's the right and compassionate thing to do. Rina's for taking the settlers' one working tractor, digging defensive trenches around the settlement, setting the trenches with spikes and making homemade napalm out of gasoline/fuel and detergent. Christian wants to parlay with the bandits and he wants to know who is with him on it.

Listening to Christian and Rina going on about offensive numbers, ambush points, finding enough bottles for Molotov cocktails [Okay, mainly it's only Rina going on about those things—Maer], Nika's thinking she's signed on with a group of terrorists. It's not that she doesn't want to help, precisely, but Nika's trying to figure out why we're doing all this when we've only been hired to fly the ship here and fly the ship back. We weren't hired on to be do-gooders. Christian suggests that Nika sit in her quarters if she doesn't like it. Nika shoots back that if he wants to talk to the bandits, she'll go with him. Rina backs that notion.

We go to the settlement's Headman to ascertain if they had attempted parlay with the bandits before.

The Headman clears his throat and tells us the background:

In the beginning they did parlay. The bandits were originally settlers who had fallen on hard times and had taken to hunting to survive. When that no longer sufficed, they took to outlawry. The settlement had heard about this band from the inhabitants of Forestville (the next city over) and the word was one should be cautious when dealing with this roving band.

So when the strangers finally showed up, the settlers were cautious. At first, the band just asked for some help, saying they'd been attacked, they'd lost their crops, could they spare some food and some fuel. The settlers gave what they could of the food and fuel.

Rina asks the Headman if he'd ever heard the Parable of the Camel's Nose. Nobody reads the classics anymore, apparently.

The Headman resumes the story: The next time the strangers came by, they demanded livestock. When the settlers refused, the strangers drew weapons and intimidated the settlers into giving the livestock up. That was four months ago and since then, the bandits have become more and more aggressive. The settlers killed two of them, but the bandits had killed four of the settlers. The bandits burned down the town one night after one of their number was killed. (We'd seen the burnt-out remains of the town, a little distance away) Since then, the settlers had barricaded their families and what little they had left behind the encircled cargo containers, fortifying them the best they can and holding the bandits off. It's been one raid after another. Livestock stolen, homes burned, vehicles destroyed.

Christian asks about the bandits' leader.

The Headman doesn't know how much of a leader that man is, but he's an older gentleman, by name of Hollister. Tanned, practically leathered by the sun and the elements, grizzled of beard and rather fond of his whiskey, one could mistake him for the town drunkard. Or a miner. Or a begger. Not a leader, but somehow he's managed it. The group has weapons and they seem to know how to use them. Their guns run to hunting pieces, not assault rifles, but Christian remarks that even so, it won't be long before the bandits use those weapons in earnest against the settlement.

Christian decides to talk with the bandits to find out more about them and is reasonably sure he can talk the Captain into giving him weapons in order to do it. Arden pledges to patch Christian up when he returns from his trip. Nika and Rina agree to go with Christian as back-up…and not so incidentally get armed as well.

In order to ensure the Captain is in as pleasant a mood as possible when we bring him our request, we refrain from waking him, but instead wait for him to awaken on his own.

When the Captain does wake up, sleep-tousled and blinking and spiking his coffee with a splash of liquor, Christian grabs a coffee before approaching him with his request. Nika leans in a doorway nearby to watch the show. She's got a twenty riding on the Captain refusing.

Ivan wants to know how many settlers are coming with us, as we'd planned the day before.

Christian: Actually, we've chosen for the moment to see what the entire situation is.

Ivan: The entire situation….

Christian: Yes. We wish to talk to the bandits. It could be that they might want certain goods and be willing to pay for it.

Ivan: (Hmmm…) Bandits are tricky to deal with.

Christian: Of course.

Ivan: You'll go speak with them?

Christian: Yes.

Ivan says he'll stay inside and Christian agrees with him.

Christian: We will need weapons.

Ivan: Okay.

Christian: Thank you.

Ivan: (Sternly) One side arm, each.

Christian: All right.

Ivan: Who is going on this mission?

Christian: Myself, and the doctor has chosen to go with us.

Arden is present and speaks up.

Arden: If they need medical help…

Nika: (from the doorway) I'll go look after these guys. I've grown up in areas like this, so…

Ivan: Very well. You will of course tell them that anything you negotiate is subject to my approval, of course,

Christian: (Not making waves…) Of course.

Ivan: I am not giving them my ship. But if they have money or something of value to trade—

Christian: They could very well be a win-win situation if you could trade some of your goods, emptying more room so you could get more colonists that can pay…

Ivan: (Hey, that's an idea…) What goods on board we can sell?

Christian: A whole bunch of colony equipment.

Nika: We were re-supplying this area.

That sits well with the Captain. He'll let some of that cargo go. And he'll let us have some weapons. Christian gets his rifle. Nika gets a pistol and her rifle—the rifle just in case she has to cover them when we haul ass out of there. Arden stows his pistol in his bag.

Ivan: What are you doing, Rina? Are you going with them? All the action is in the bandit camp.

Rina: (On board with this) Sure.

Arden: I'm sure we can find you a husband there.

Rina: Oh, fuck you. And I'll get my gun back.

Arden: Just don't use the gun on me.

Rina: (to Arden) Don't give me a reason. (To Christian) Okay, I'm going.

Rina gets her gun back and holsters it under her arm.

We get to work immediately, operating under the suspicion that the bandits are either watching the ship or they have a spy in the settlement. They'll know we're coming, so why wait? Christian runs up a white cloth on something suitably high outside the settlement to signal our wish to parlay. We use the antennae array on the ship. Nika's of the opinion that Christian's making a mistake doing this and he shouldn't ever be made Captain. Christian's of the opinion he doesn't want to be Captain.

Signal mounted, we warn the settlers to hide and we wait. Arden spends the day in the compound, giving everyone—even the children—a medical once-over. The settlers aren't malnourished, per se, but they are getting by with the rudest of rations, having spent their resources in planting. Which crops are now lying fallow in fields the banditry has made unworkable.

We set someone to observe the area at all times so the bandits cannot get the drop on us.

The day passes. The sun sinks toward sunset. A group of horsemen arrive. The alert is given and Christian, Arden, Nika and Rina go out meet them.

One rider is clearly the leader. Four others flank him in wing positions. Two have rifles, the other two pistols. The leader may be armed, but nothing is visible. He does, however, have a very nasty-looking bullwhip slung on his saddle. All are dressed in full cowboy garb.

The riflemen hang back on final approach and the remaining three come forward.

Christian notes the rifles are held at rest, yet in a way they can immediately be brought to bear on us.

The leader opens the parlay.

Leader: I guess I'm here to accept your surrender. On behalf of the law in these parts.

Christian: The law?

Leader: That's me. Such as there is.

Christian: That's interesting. Actually, no. We are here to negotiate on behalf of our ship.

Leader: All right. What do you got to negotiate?

Christian: We have a certain number of trade goods you might find useful, considering what you've already…taken as a tithe from the local colonists.

Arden cuts in.

Arden: (Frowning)That he probably stole. He knows what he did. You know what he did. Let's call it what it is.

Christian: He's the law.

Leader: We didn't take any tithes.

Arden: No. They just took what they wanted.

Leader: Just some livestock and some other stuff, but didn't take no tithes as far as I know.

Arden says something rude and Christian calls him on his language. Then:

Christian: (Briskly) So. Who died and made you sheriff?

Oh, like this was any more polite than what Arden said?

Leader: Heck. Lotsa folk. (laughs) So, um, whaddya say you got to trade there? Stores? We could use some…you got alcohol?

Christian: Yes. Yes, we do.

Leader: Well…

Christian: A seemingly never-ending supply of it.

Leader: (Shrugging) We got some gold, I guess.

Christian: Well, we could—I'm curious about something, indulge me if you will.

Leader: (Easily) Sure.

Christian: Why the raids?

Leader: What raids?

Christian: Okay… Why the acquisition of goods from the people behind these walls?

Leader: Oh, we done some trading with them, if that's what you're talkin' about .

Christian: …yeah…

Leader: Oh, are you talkin' about the bandits? I wouldn't know anything about them.

Christian: Ah. So there's a third group out there? …I see….

Leader: May be. But don't you worry about it, though. We'll take care of it.

Nika speaks up.

Nika: They been hittin' you?

Leader: All I know is they're all around us.

Christian knows the man is lying. Nika continues.

Nika: Just outa curiosity, whaddya think these bandits're gonna do when there ain't nobody to steal from no more?

Leader: Hmmm….well. Don't know. Seems there's always somebody to steal from.

Nika: Bein' that you're the law in these parts—

Leader: Such as it is.

Arden: `Such as' the law here? Or `such as' these parts are?

Leader: Both. What was your question, again? Ma'am?

Arden: What are you going to do when the victims are gone, was the question. When you fleece the sheep and the sheep have no more fleece.

Leader: There's always someone. Always somebody lookin' for a green pastoral environments.

Christian: I'm just curious as to why the bandits don't work with the locals.

Leader: Work with them….what d'ya mean?

Christian: For example, they're taking food, livestock and the like. I'm guessing the bandits don't have the facilities as the people who train people to raise livestock, breed them, grow the crops—

Leader: That `s what the villagers are for.

Christian: And when they don't have any livestock left?

Leader: Look like there's ships comin' in, every now and then.

Christian: Yes. There might be. But this ship doesn't have any livestock on it.

Leader: This ship? You say.

Christian: (gesturing) Do you see cows? Do you see the shaking of things that comes from cows moving around? No, no cows.

Leader: Okay…

Christian: That's not my point. My point is—think of it this way: if they were to have their livestock and their grain and to grow it, till the fields, produce with it and get new livestock. Wouldn't you have a more reliable—or the bandits—have a more reliable and regular supply?

Arden: (asking Christian) What you mean "or the bandits"?

Leader: Lessee if I understand this correctly. You're sayin' we shouldn't take from these townfolk so later we can take from these townfolk.

Christian: I'm saying—

Leader: You're talkin' 'bout moderation. Bein' careful. Not—

Nika: We're talkin' about building an economy. What do you think these bandits actually get outa these raids that they're not skilled enough and smart enough to actually raise and produce their own?

Leader: Well, golly. You done convinced me. We're on the side'a good now. You know what? I think what I probably need is the love of a good woman to show me the right way. Ain't that right.

Arden: I think there might be someone on board.

Christian: The Captain, I trust?

Rina: (finally chiming in) Yeah. I'd pay to see that.

Leader: (ignoring the heckling) If that's what you're suggestin'. You know, productive and all.

Nika gives the man a look from top to bottom and up again.

Nika: I'm sure you couldn't possibly be productive enough to entice me.

Leader: Well, then, I guess we'll have to stick to our unlawful ways.

Christian: I'm curious about one thing: How long do you think you have before the Alliance comes.

Leader: (faking fear) Not the Alliance…!

The Leader openly scoffs, stating that the Alliance doesn't give a rat's ass about the settlements this far out from the Core.

Nika: (indicating Christian, God he's such a moron) This is why he's not going to be the Captain. He thinks he can negotiate with this—!

Christian: (looking daggers: shut up to me) Certainly I can negotiate. If you'll let me.

Leader: Send the Alliance. We'll be happy to see them.

Christian: Oh, really?

Leader: We know these hills like nobody's business.

Christian: What if they bombard you?

Leader: You think.

Christian: Yes, I think.

Leader: All the livestock we done taken in the last year ain't worth one'a them bombs. You think they gonna waste them on us?

Christian: Yep.

Leader: I don't think so.

Christian: Because, you see—

Leader: These people have been on the horn callin' for months and how many Alliance spaceships have shown up? I'd sat that'd be…none.

Christian: See, the thing is—

Leader: They don't care about life out here on the Border.

Christian: I think you're a little wrong there. They're pushing out further every year. Eventually, they're gonna come here and their not gonna care about your—

Leader: Well, then maybe we'll find a nice ship like yours and take it up to the Rim

Christian: Really? Can you fly a ship?

Leader: I'm sure we can convince people to fly us.

Christian: Hnnn. And repair it?

Leader: We can pay our way, but we're not goin' now. Because we're fine, here.

Christian: Well—

Leader: First you tell me that we're runnin' outa people, now you're sayin' we's gonna be overrun with people.

Christian: No. In fact, you're gonna run outa people eventually, and eventually…see, the Alliance is gonna want this place colonized because they'll want food. This area's very large and can be turned into a lot of food, which can be sent back to the Core. Eventually they're gonna realize they're not getting food. Because you're stopping that. They'll come, see you as a challenge to their authority and you saw what happened during the war when someone challenged their authority.

Leader: Right. How much do you want for that alcohol. And any ammunition you have.

Christian: Hmm…We want a tractor and 50 gold.

Leader: I don't have any tractors but I can give you a mule.

Christian: The four-legged kind or the motored kind?

Leader: I got both.

Christian: Hmm. Sure.

Leader: For how much alcohol and how much ammunition?

Christian: No ammunition. We don't have any to spare. That wasn't one of the things we were carrying.

Leader: You seem to be….armed.

Christian: With enough ammunition for ourselves. It would be foolish to be without ammunition in this area. There are bandits about.

Arden: But the law will protect us. Such as it is.

Leader: Anyway. All right. So…we're lookin' at a mule and how much alcohol?

Christian: Let's see….(he thinks about it…)

Rina leans over to Arden and says for his ears alone:

Rina: I say we drug the alcohol and while they're sleeping it off, we come back and slit their throats.

Arden: (quietly) We're not doing that again. And we aren't doing that, either.

Rina rolls her eyes. All right. Whatever. Wuss.

Christian knows most of the best alcohol is locked up in the Captain's quarters and for the bandits, a case of the hard stuff will do. But how to get it? Rina's of the opinion the only way to get a drink out of the Captain is to stick a finger down his throat. Arden looks the `lawmen' over, and thinks that they don't look that hard off. Certainly they're in better condition than the settlers.

Christian: A case. Of various hard liquors.

Leader: We'll give you fifty for that. That's fair.

Christian: All right.

Leader: I know we're not giving a mule for it.

Christian: That's all right. We probably don't have the room for it anyway.

Leader: Very good. All right. We'll come back tomorrow.

We say our goodbyes. They ride off. But not before all us ex-military types notice the body language: the Leader has people on the heights with sniper rifles. He looks around, a not-so-subtle signal to them: all clear.

Nika tells our party to pull back now.

Christian: I believe that man is tryin' to kill us.

Rina: No. You think?

Nika: (I need to speak with you…now!) Christian.

Christian: (to Nika) Don't. Really.

Rina: Not here. Not where they can hear us.

We watch them go and then step inside the airlock, the last point before we'd be forced to give up our weapons upon boarding, to discuss it.

Rina: So, Christian, tell me. You've arranged another meeting with them so we can whack them then, right? (she gets a nod: yes) Good man. Had me going there for a moment.

Christian: The point of talking to them was never to get them to agree to something. The point of talking to them was to learn something about them and to figure out a plan to deal with them. The more information you have about someone, the more you—

Rina: I'm all for that.

Arden: What do we know now?

Christian: We know that he seems a great deal sure of himself. That he has snipers, I think…Yes? ( He looks at Nika and gets a nod.) That there's more than five of them and that they really want alcohol. Which they're not going to pay for, but that's okay. And that they're coming back here tomorrow.

Arden: What if they do pay for it?

Christian: If they do pay for it?

Arden: Right. Why wouldn't they pay for it?

Nika: Because they can just take it. As far as they're concerned—

Arden: They wouldn't because of the ship. It's kinda hard to assault the ship with six guns.

Christian: They don't know that it's locked. They don't know we're not the only ones aboard. We're negotiating. They're probably going to assume one of us is the Captain. The Captain negotiates.

Rina: All right, I have a question here. We've been here two days. Sniper rifles have scopes, so we know they can watch us from a distance. Right?

Christian: (confidently) Mm-hmm. The Captain's never left the ship, I think.

Rina: (Not so fast…) No. No, as far as I can tell, he was out on the dirt discussing things with the colonists when we first touched down. It's possible they know who the Captain is. But they seem willing to deal with you so that's practically a moot point. I have another question. 100% Ethanol alcohol. It's jet fuel. Do we have it? I just remember that Russian MiG pilots would get drunk on their fuel, because it was 100% pure ethanol.

Nika: Yeah, and they were killin' brain cells—

Rina: Are we caring about their brain cells at this point?

Christian: They may or may not decide to drink 100% proof alcohol.

Nika: No. 100% is different than 100 proof.

Rina: Yeah. Vodka's only 80. Either way—

Christian: Point being, a) we might not have enough and b) we might need it. I'm assuming we have it because we need to clean things—

Rina: As long as it's Ethanol alcohol… Look, I'm looking at it as a source of alcohol that the Captain's not going to miss or gainsay.

Christian: We already got him to give us our guns. Have a little faith.

Arden: And since we're not really selling them anything anyway, we could fill them up with water and they'll likely not know the difference.

Christian: That's true.

Nika: I'm still not entirely convinced what the point of all this is. Essentially my question to you is what exactly are we gaining in the time it took us to negotiate what little we negotiated? Because we certainly aren't going to help the colonists by trading for alcohol with the bandits.

Christian: Well, we could do a few things there but that would depend on the doctor and apparently he's not willing to poison anyone. (to Arden) That's all right. It's not your fault.

Rina: Hippocratic Oath, after all.

Christian: It's not like they make you take it to get your degree—.

Rina: What are they gonna do, put a scalpel to your neck?

Arden: To get your degree you don't need to do it, but to keep your license you do.

Christian: (waving his hands to settle it) We learned something and we know have more options. What we do with the options is up to us.

Nika: We don't see how we have more options to help the colonists with this.

Christian: (decisively) Where are the snipers?

Nika: Not were they were when I first looked.

Christian: I know they're not there now, but what were their positions? They're likely to use the same positions again aren't they?

Nika: No—.

Arden: In the hills?

Nika: —as a matter of fact, they're not.

Christian: There's only so many positions they can be in.

Nika: Yes, they'll use the same general position, but they won't necessarily use the same specific position.

Rina: Who could be on the bridge, sweeping the area with our sensors looking for heat signatures—the snipers?

Christian: That would be someone with a high technical skill, which would be the two of you. (He points to Rina and Nika.) Assuming—.

Rina: Well, I'm volunteering.

Christian: Question is: Do we want to do something about it?

Nika: Again, it still begs the question to me of just how much help we're being to them. I don't see how we're being of help to them. The only help we can give them is to bring as many of them with us as we can. And maybe take an extra shuttle run over to the next city and get the rest of them to safety there.

Rina: Do these bandits have bounties on their heads? Are they worth money?

It's not likely, nothing bigger than maybe a town putting an individual bounty on them. It's already clear that the troubles here are of low priority to the Feds. Had it been a higher priority, bounties might be large enough to make them worth pursuing.

Damn.

Christian: It is a question. We could even their numbers out.

Nika: I'm all for helping them as much as possible, but right now what I see our option as is taking them as many as possible who wish to stay on this planet to the next city over, and then taking those who want to leave the planet out of here.

Christian: Leaving them destitute because the Captain is going to take everything they have, making them poor and quite possibly dead, either way.

Nika: What would you like me to do about that, precisely?

Christian: We should do something about the bandits.

Nika: It would be easier to shoot the gorram Captain.

Great. If Nika keeps this up, we'll be standing out here all night.

Christian: (drawing it out…)Yes….we could do that. I'm not sure that we want to. I'm just listing options. I'm not advocating any specific one.

Nika: I think our problem here is you don't have any clear idea exactly what it is you wish to accomplish.

Christian: I know exactly what I want to accomplish.

Rina: Christian, if we deal with the bandits, wi—

Nika: Will the colonists be any better off?

Rina: —Will the colonists, freed of the bandits' depredations, be able to plant, raise and harvest their food before winter comes? Are they all dead, anyway?

Not entirely likely—Jiang Yin has a year-round temperate climate. There is no real winter.

Nika: I don't necessarily see stopping the bandits as one of the goals of our particular situation.

Arden: It's an admirable goal.

Nika: I don't think it's a goal that's doable—

Arden: Why?

Nika: —By a crew our size. If you want an army contingent, by all means, bring one in. I think that's the only way you're going to stop the bandit situation.

Christina: If there's anything the Companion Guild ever learned is that one person can bring down an entire army with a well-placed word.

Rina: (Sarcastically) Oh, yes! Her name was Judith. I remember that story.

Nika: (To Christian) Uh-huh. You know what? This is your party. I'll bodyguard. That's as far as I'm going.

Rina: (undertone) At least you got the reference.

Christian: (to Nika) I do need your help, if you're willing to give it because you do have experience I don't have.

Nika: Then you better get a clear goal in mind, because I'm not helping you if you don't have one.

Christian: (stating his goal) Kill as many of the bandits as possible.

Nika: (FINALLY!) That I can help with.

Arden isn't entirely convinced. Killing some of the bandits would only take a stick to the proverbial beehive.

Nika: No, you'd do the same thing you'd do with a snake: Cut off the head.

Rina: Like I said: Judith.

Arden: (washing his hands of it) I have no experience with snakes. I'll take your word for it.

Someone remarked that while snakes can be nasty critters, they're also helpful critters.

Arden: Yeah, and I crew with them.

That matter settled, we discuss tactics.

Nika: Rina, I need a spot on top of the ship that can't be spotted from sniper positions.

Rina: Let's ping the topography and see what we've got.

Nika: And closer would be better. Because I think I can take them out without using a rifle.

Rina: Works for me…

We know that the containers on the ship have doors, arranged on the sides. We know that sniper rifles have a range of thousands of feet. The ship and the containers, however, have hatches topside, that could provide cover. Nika's hoping to take them out quietly with a bow—yes, she said a bow—silently, without any tell-tale shots, reducing their numbers by surprise and by that throwing the bandits off their stride long enough for us to get the drop on them. The trade off would be the range: a bow cannot go as far as a firearm, so wherever Nika chooses to lie in wait, it will have to be close to the bandits' position. We don't have a bow on the ship but decide to ask if the settlers have a bow she can use.

That said, we also decide that the safest place outside to meet the bandits would be under the ship itself, letting its bulk provide cover from the snipers on the heights. If Nika is topside, she's taking a risk of getting shot herself. She still wants to use the bow for a silent attack. So be it. She'll brave the bullets.

Rina says they could reduce that risk if they sweep the area for the sniper positions and booby trap them. Nika agrees. And if we run into the bandits…?

(Folder C, Section 09, 00:00:00)

Nika: We'll leave our options open to just…. play the girl card.

Rina: (To Nika) You're prettier.

Nika: (To Rina)You're better with a knife.

Rina: A question of degree.

Arden: He's just looking for a good woman.

Christian: (To the women)You think you can get close enough to kill him?

Nika: (To Rina) Again, you're better with a knife and I've already turned him down. He's not going to believe it if I turn on it.

Christian: The person who uses it and does that is going to get killed.

Nika: Not necessarily.

Rina: If we do pursue the Judith option, do you have something in your stores I could use, say like a patch, that I can slap on him and take him out that way?

Arden: I suppose I can find something.

We leave it at that, neither taking up the option or discarding it. But it's just one more weapon in our arsenal. We discuss ways we could spook or disable the horses. If the bandits are on foot, the odds against us are evened. We hit upon the idea of pulsing our engines for the noise and the kick-up to spook the horses all at once. We would have to lose one of our party to keep them standing by the controls on the bridge—that's one less person manning a gun in our defense.

Rina suggests we could just sneak into the bandit camp under cover of darkness and stampede or kill their horses. Arden counters we don't know where their camp is. Christian quips we could capture a bandit and get him to tell us.

Arden: How?

Nika: The sensors don't have the range, based on how long it took for them to get to us—.

Rina: So, there might be torture.

Christian: (pained at the poor choice of words) Persuasion.

Arden argues for something less lethal.

Rina: Yeah, you can threaten to have them sleep with me. Yeah, that would be effective.

Nika: (laughter) Hih-ha-ha-huh…

Christian: Yes. Well. There is nothing I can say that could possibly apply to that so I'll just move along.

Nika: (still laughing) That's a very good option, Christian. You do that. (laughs more)

Christian: Not saying anything at all. Seriously.

Nika is still laughing.

Christian: I have to admit, I was vaguely hoping the bandit leader would be a woman. I can work with women.

Nika: (getting a grip…) Oh, honey, you can—

Rina: —work with men!

Christian: Oh, I can work with men, but I'd rather—

Nika: I'm appreciative that a man might not respond favorably.

Arden: (looking at Christian speculatively) I don't know.

Christian: He strikes me as the macho-macho type.

Arden: You could get him drunk first...

We take a minute to laugh and speculate, but really, it's merely an amusing digression. We sober after a few minutes.

Christian: (To Arden) I was joking. But seriously: We need a plan.

Rina: So the Judith seduction is not a plan?

Arden: I like the engine idea.

Nika: Yeah, that's about the best you're gonna do. Honestly.

Rina: Yeah…

Christian: And then shoot as many as you can?

Rina: Yes.

Nika: Or shoot as many horses as you can.

Christian: We should consider the snipers.

Rina: We were going to scan the hills, run up a quick and dirty topo map, figure out from that where their sniper positions would be and then either finding a way of neutralizing those positions or neutralizing the snipers once they get there.

Based on what we've been able to observe so far, we think there are two spots in the hills. Once we find them, we'll have to find a way to make them unusable.

Christian: Remote controlled triggers and IED's

Rina: I like the way you think. Now, can we get the Captain to give us the gunpowder we're gonna need?

Rina believes there is fuel and other explosive stuff that has legitimate business in the workshop she can use if she can't get that gunpowder. So the Captain's agreement is a non-issue.

Next up on the table: What is Hollister likely to do at the exchange tomorrow? Demand to go inside the ship to conduct business? Or grab one of us as a hostage outside and use that as leverage to gain access? Christian's bead on the man strongly suggests that since Hollister dealt straight with the settlers at first, he'll deal straight with us at the meet tomorrow. Even so…Christian wants to substitute one of the bottles of liquor for a bottle bomb, triggered remotely. Just in case.

Rina: (smiling) Of course.

Christian: Just if they get—

Nika: I'm leaving that to you.

There is still the issue of getting the ships sensors to locate the sniper nests. Even though we'd managed to scan through a ship's metal hull from a klik away to find heat signatures, the residual heat from the sun and the ground dirtside would make sifting through the extraneous `noise' difficult. Rina quips that she should be able to jigger the sensors, being Little Miss MacGyver, but admits she's going to be busy enough as it is on all the other things being prepped for the meet.

We assemble a case of good booze from the ship, acquired by Christian on the sly from the Captain's quarters under cover of dusting, and Rina puts the bottle bomb in with the liquor. So: Five bottles of the real and the one fake—good to go!

We rig up the IEDs next, one for each sniper position. and load them with nails and broken glass: the aim is to maim as much as possible, rather than to kill. We've got tons of nails in the cargo we're carrying, boxes and boxes. Rina rigs up four more IEDs, not convinced that two will be enough. If nothing else, we can use the extra on the bandits' approach path. Rina also rigs up a mess of Molotov cocktails for the settlers to use in case the bandits overpower us, using our empties and whatever the settlers have on hand. We manage about a dozen decent Molotovs. It never hurts to be prepared.

Next item: the ship's engines.

Christian: Is there a way we can turn on the engines by remote?

Rina: Of course. How do you think the rich people in the Core do it?

Arden: I'm not going outside. I'll turn on the engines.

Christian: I'd appreciate it. If you died, there's no one to patch us up.

Arden: Exactly. I was thinking of [all of] you. (grins) Almost.

Rina rigs up a contact board with a line of switches for him to throw: Initializers, Port thrusters, Starboard, Kill switch. Easy. She sets everything up in the engine room and sets his handcomm channel to mesh with the others'. When they need the engines pulsed, they'll say the word and he'll flip the switches. Nika offers to give Arden a crash course on the engines.

Next item: Finding a place for Nika to shoot from.

Nika: Do you want me to take it with a rifle or do you want me to take it with a bow?

Christian: Which do you think would be better?

Nika: A bow requires a lot closer range, but it is silent.

Christian: But they'll see you if you're closer.

We're set. The Headman is dubious of our decision to stand and fight.

Headman: Are there more of you on that ship?

Christian: No, but we have explosives. And we're willing to arm you if you're willing to help and fight for your home.

Headman: I gotta protect my family and….

Christian: I might be able to convince the Captain to put all the children aboard and any women you feel aren't quite worthy aboard the ship for the duration.

Headman: Well…I'll talk to the people about it, what they wanna do. I'm not sure about being in the ship if you're fighting them.

Christian: The ship will be the safest place. I'm told that unless they have small rocket launchers, there's nothing they have that will penetrate it and as long as it's locked, I doubt they have the technical skills to open the airlock.

The Headman agrees and Christian reassures him that they can give him weapons they can throw—Rina's Molotovs—to augment any weapons the settlers already have. That done we go off into the hills to find the sniper nests…and booby trap them with two of our IEDs.

We find one spot with broken twigs, knee depressions in the dirt, that sort of thing. We plant the first IED there, set so it would cover as large an area as possible to maim the sniper. Even if only a couple of nails hit their intended target, they will be too occupied with their wounds to act as effective snipers: job done.

The other spot is a bit more iffy. There aren't as many signs of occupancy at this one, but given the terrain, it's the best spot for the task. We set the IED above and behind the position, to cause an avalanche of debris to fall on the sniper, taking him out that way.

We return to the ship and bury four of the IEDs in the flats between our ship and the hills, and then map their locations so we or the settlers don't accidentally kill ourselves by stepping on them. And lastly, Rina rigs up the explosive bottle with a radio-controlled trigger.

We choose our weapons for the coming fight and settle down to waiting. Christian and Nika choose rifles. Rina sticks with her gun. Arden will be aboard the ship, manning the trip board. The settlers will be waiting behind their walls, armed with all of Rina's Molotovs and whatever they have to throw at the bandits should they get past us.

All we need now is a deck of cards.

Monday, 13 Oct 2517

Juniper Springs Settlement - Jiang Yin

15:30 hrs, local time

Six of the bandits approach our position. At about 50 feet, Hollister and the two on either side of him dismount and walk the rest of the way while the others remain on their horses, hanging back inside the line of our IEDs. The two men flanking Hollister have their side arms out, Hollister has his holstered. Christian keeps his rifle slung across his back. Rina keeps her position at the landing strut, but her coveralls are unzipped to her tool belt, the better to get at her gun. She crosses her arms and waits. Arden is aboard the ship, standing by at the switches. Nika is ensconced in a cargo container overlooking everyone.

Hollister: Y'all look a little nervous. It's just a box 'a booze.

He walks up to the booze.

Hollister: I'll just whip this out.

He pulls out his money, a thick wad of credit notes.

Hollister: Didn't you say it was forty?

Christian: I believe the price was fifty.

Hollister gives Christian the fifty credits and reaches down for one of the bottles. We hold our breath—is it the bottle bomb?

No.

He opens it and takes as swig, declares it good stuff. He peels off another note from his wad and hands it to Christian.

Hollister: There you go, for your trouble.

He turns and starts walking away.

Hollister: Clem, pick it up.

One of his flankers picks up the booze. Hollister and his men start moving away from us. It's now or never. Christian steps back, out of Nika's way.

Nika eases up her hatch enough to shoot and lines up her shot on Hollister. She shoots. She nails him. Hollister spins and falls, drilled through the head.

One down. Five to go.

Hollister's men freeze.

Christian steps back and pulls his rifle forward.

Rina ducks behind the landing strut and draws her pistol, taking aim at the bandit who flanked Hollister on his right.

Nika drills one of the mounted bandits through the head, leaving two bandits on foot and two mounted.

Arden puts his hands to the switches and pulses the engines.

BWAHHHHHHUMMMMM!

Holy shit!

Time speeds up and everything starts happening all at once.

There is a flurry of shooting, ending in a mounted rider shot right off his horse, a man afoot shot dead where he stood, another on foot wounded but still on his feet, and a mounted bandit successfully passing right under the belly of our ship to the other side. Up in the hills, Arden's set off the IEDs and subsequent scan shows one of the heat signature getting the hell away from that area—scratch two snipers.

Time slows down to normal and as both we and the bandits wheel around to face each other and get our bearings, Ivan Potemkin steps off our ship demanding to know what's going on. He's left the safety of the ship, like an idiot, and is now striding over with guns in hand. Ivan sees the liquor and goes for it.

Rina aims for the remaining mounted rider. Nika notices the Captain and sees there is a live grenade on the ground next to the liquor…and the Captain is within range. Distracted, she shoots at one of the remaining bandits and botches the kill: he's still up. An earth shattering BOOM!—the grenade's blown—is followed by another boom! as the bottle bomb goes off.

Both bombs rip right through the Captain.

Despite the explosions, Rina and Christian both manage to shoot and hit the mounted rider. One bandit is left standing, the one originally wounded in the first volley.

The Captain is on fire. Screaming. Weakly.

Arden sees this and grabs his bag, running off the bridge to help the Captain.

The last bandit tries to take cover.

Rina aims for him, pulls the trigger and her gun jams. Dammit!

Nika lines up her shot and takes out the remaining bandit.

Christian throws his jacket over the Captain and starts putting the fire out. Arden arrives but he's too late. The Captain's dead.

Russian barbeque, anyone?

Arden checks the bandits, but all are dead and have no need for his services.

Final score: Us—7, Bandits—0. And one accidental death, practically self-inflicted.

Nika gets to her feet and looks down at the scene from her position.

Nika: I'm thinkin' that might make a difference.

Christian: (rising to his feet) What? The Captain being dead?

Nika gestures at the dead bandits—not the Captain, these guys.

We pick ourselves up and dispose of the bodies. While they burn we distribute guns to the settlers, and encouraged by the battle, they announce they feel they can fend for themselves from this point on. Christian also gives the settlers the 50 credits from Hollister.

Arden goes to the sniper nests to see if there is anyone there to save. He finds just the one dead sniper, but he also retrieves the sniper's rifle. Nika calls dibs on it. There's a motion to give it to the settlers. They roll for it and Nika wins. The sniper rifle and the scope is hers.

Now all that's left is to decide what cargo to leave and what to take. The cargo shipment we were hired to deliver will stay behind, of course, and the Robinsons and their goods will to, if they wish it. The Robinsons so wish, and they are no longer in our hair.

Based on what Rina found on Grimes' pulse beacon board, we cannot be certain who owns the ship legally. Now free of the Captain's presence, Rina goes to the bridge to yank the board to find out more, if anything, on the ship. The others decide to go through the Captain's cabin to look for clues. Arden goes through the Captain's logs, verifies that the cargo we're carrying is rightfully the settlers': they'd paid to have it brought over.

Unloading the ship takes a couple of days. There's no longer any rush—the bandit problem has been dealt with and everyone breathes easier.

Pulling the bridge's pulse beacon, Rina does find out that it's a forgery. The MakeMake is actually owned by Fairweather Flyers, Inc. No surprise there. A search through the Ships Registry records show that Fairweather Flyers is the last registered owner of the MakeMake. We do a Cortex check on Fairweather Flyers and find out that its HQ is located on Angel, on the Rim, in the Kalidasa system. We'd have to get a job somewhere nearby to earn money for the fuel it would take to get us there. We cannot send a message to Fairweather Flyers that we've found their ship—Cortex search shows little to no business activity in that company, of late. Anything we do with Fairweather Flyers will have to be face to face. Furthermore, a careful look around the police channels show there is no notice posted as to the MakeMake's theft and missing status. In other words, there's no BOLO on her…or us. Interesting.

We decide next what to do with Ivan's body. We figure Josef will want his brother back, but what to tell him? That we got set upon by bandits and Ivan got tragically caught in the crossfire?

Also, if we take the ship back to Josef, Fairweather Flyers may never get their ship back. If we take the ship to Fairweather Flyers, Josef could declare us thieves and we'd all have a price on our heads.

We don't know if Fairweather Flyers is even a working company. It could have gone under or it could be a shell corporation. We decide to try Fairweather Flyers and inform Josef what we're doing, to cover our asses. We'll go through the ships logs and see if there are any jobs lined up for us, and failing that, we'll find one ourselves.

Arden isn't all that keen to go to Angel—he'd left that system because someone is gunning for him there and though no one is likely to know him on Angel itself, he's still reluctant to go. Nika tells him to stay aboard the ship when we arrive. Problem solved. Arden grumbles he's going to grow a beard.

We find a petty cash box in the Captain's quarters that has enough in it to fill one of our fuel tanks. A tank of fuel would be sufficient to get us anywhere in the current system, find a job and earn more money.

There's the Cortex for in-system cargo jobs and Nika announces we're going to pick a job on offer there. She'll also deal with Josef before we leave. She'll send a message to him, telling him his brother died, we can't get back to the Core with the ship anyway because we've picked up a job, and barring any problems Josef will still earn his percentage. There is no way we will go back for the derelict ship for salvage until we are on our way back to the Core.

Rina pinches a bottle of vodka from the Captain's personal stash—she's sore from the gunfight—and Christian chooses another bottle of liquor to cook with.