Editing Episode 204: Meridian Encounters, Part 2

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[[Episode 204: Meridian Encounters| Part 1]]<br>
[[Episode 204: Meridian Encounters, Part 3| Part 3]]<br>
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When the dust settles, Rina tries hacking the locks on the storage units.  They’re built into the slopes, kept cool and secured by the earth.  The clinic nurses are a mite nervous about this whole business, because they’ve had frequent burglary attempts on their supplies already.

'''Head Nurse:''' Will we be able to lock it when you leave?<br>
'''Rina:''' I’ll be gentle.

The alternative is to leave the meds as they are and have the nurses carry on as they already have, on reduced meds and equipment such as they are actually able and trained to use, until Dr. Fong’s return.  Then again, the head nurse suggests, if Dr. Arden was willing to stay, it wouldn’t matter all that much because he’s a better doctor than Fong.  We balk at that idea and offer the compromise of having Arden stay only as long until help can arrive from elsewhere.  

Or we can hack the locks.  And if the hack fails…  The head nurse is still not sure about this whole business and needs more persuading.

'''Rina:''' They’ve only taken the shuttle.  If I have to, I have a whole machine shop aboard the Gift and I can make up an entire brand new set of shiny locks if I somehow screw the ones we’ve got.

After all, we really don’t know when the doctor’s coming back.  If the nurses needed something that’s been locked up, shouldn’t they be able to get to it?  If we hacked the locks, we could work it so they could lock and unlock them without the doctor at will.  Also, if we hacked the locks we could offload the cargo we’ve brought them.  Or we could wait to see if the police from Perth could help with the locks.  The Head Nurse quips wryly that yes, they’ve been a great help to Brisbane so far.

Rina hacks the locks.

Once opened, we realize that it’s going to be tight for the 50 tons or so of supplies we’ve brought and looking around to see how best to make it fit, we notice that Dr. Fong had squirreled away supplies from many different disciplines: herbalism, holistic medicine, acupuncture—the gamut.  

On the shuttle, Nika and Christian speculate as to what’s going to happen.
 
'''Christian:''' This should be fun.<br>
'''Nika:''' Your description of fun leaves much to be desired. <br>
'''Christian:''' Oh, no, I have better descriptions of fun. It’s just…I haven’t worked in months.<br>
'''Nika:''' (sincerely) I’m sorry.<br>
'''Christian:''' It’s not your fault. I’d just like…..more work and less running for my life.<br>
'''Nika:''' Maybe you should have taken a place on the ''Decatur''.<br>
'''Christian:'''  Ahh, no. The kind of work they’ve got is not the kind of work I’d want.<br>
'''Nika:''' That’s okay. 

They speculate on the occurrence of the disease.  Why do the people in the mountains have it but not the folk in the town down below?  

'''Christian:''' How do they get it?  If they have it, how do they get it?  And why doesn’t anyone in the town have it?<br>
'''Nika:''' We don’t know they don’t.<br>
'''Christian:''' True.<br>
'''Nika:''' The logging company may have gotten a shipment of protein paste that nobody else got.<br>
'''Christian:''' But our aboriginal friend also suggested that the settlers were also exhibiting signs of unusual behavior.<br>
'''Nika:''' They could have gotten some supplies from the logging camp.  <br>
'''Christian:''' They could have traded, true.  They could have, getting what little with what they have.<br>
'''Nika:''' Trading goat milk for protein paste…trading this for that…. And it’s still all conjecture that it’s the protein paste.  There’s no way to know. <br> 
'''Christian:''' (agreeing) We really don’t.  All that I know is from what I know from history is a small armed camp, when they’re diseased, is poised for disaster in the end.  Poised for a lot of people dead.<br>
'''Nika:''' Yeah.  I know. <br>
'''Christian:''' And there’s the question of whether they’ve bothered to contact the police about this, too. There’s also the possibility that they may decide to just firebomb the camp. <br>
'''Nika:''' (sighing) Christian, it’s not our problem.  We’ve only got so many problems we can take on our own plates.  Are we going to take on an armed camp as one of ours?<br>
'''Christian:''' We can’t. We don’t have the manpower.  <br>
'''Nika:''' Or the firepower.<br>
'''Christian:''' Or the skill.<br>
'''Nika:''' We have the police force.<br>
'''Christian:''' Or more to the point—I don’t think we can do it and guarantee the doctor’s safety.<br>
'''Nika:''' Not so sure anyone else can, either.

They fly on in silence for a moment.  

'''Christian:''' I bet Mike could do it.  Go in and get the doctor out without anybody noticing.  But I don’t think any of us could.<br>
'''Nika:''' You have quite a bit of faith in his skill.<br>
'''Christian:''' I’ve seen what he can do. When he’s not getting captured and held hostage.  I’m relatively certain Harry could do it.  Get in through a whole bunch of people, before she got taken down.  Rick might be able to do it, to a certain degree.  Getting in and getting the doctor out is…..Problematic. 

Isn’t it always? 

Nika and Christian fly to Perth.  It’s a city of 60 thousand people, not huge, but slightly more advanced than Brisbane with better port facilities.  And they have Cortex.  We could fly Johannes out here and have him withdraw what he owes us.

Shiny.

The police in Perth are your standard police force with a standard police station.  Nika walks right up to the front desk and the Desk Sergeant on duty looks up from his paperwork.

'''Desk Sergeant:''' What can I do for you?<br>
'''Nika:''' We need to report a problem.  A possible TSE outbreak in Brisbane.<br>
'''Desk Sergeant:''' Really?<br>
'''Nika:''' Yes.  It’s a logging camp up in the hills above the city and they have basically armed themselves and barricaded themselves in and killed some of the surrounding settlers.<br>
'''Christian:''' What we’ve been able to determine is they were convinced the settlers had it.<br>
'''Desk Sergeant:''' Did they have it?<br>
'''Christian:''' Doesn’t matter whether they did or not because they were burned enough that no one’s going to be able to do tests on their bodies.<br>
'''Nika:''' No, he was asking about whether the loggers have it.  We don’t know that.<br>
'''Christian:''' Honestly, we don’t know for sure.<br>
'''Nika:''' We do know that they’ve kidnapped the town’s doctor and possibly the town sheriff as well.<br>
'''Christian:''' And they’re paranoid enough that they’re setting up explosive traps on the road.

The Desk Sergeant takes it all in.

'''Desk Sergeant:''' Okay, but we don’t have any authority down in…where did you say this was?  What did you call it? Brisbane?<br>
'''Nika:''' Yes.  The PDF sent us your way.<br>
'''Desk Sergeant:''' Oh….right. If you think it’s TSE, we should call the ACDC.  Is there anything else you can tell us about why you think it’s TSE?  Just because people are being paranoid? There are a lot of crazy hill people living there.<br>
'''Christian:''' We’ve had some… um….we have a doctor with us who has been reading up on the literature and from the symptoms that were described, the paranoia, the odd random violence…suggests it might be.  Even if it’s not, you have people heavily armed with explosives kidnapping people. <br>
'''Nika:''' Including law enforcement officials.

That’s the second time Nika’s mentioned a brother in blue in danger.  You’d think that would warrant something more enthusiastic in response than what we’ve received so far.
 
'''Desk Sergeant:''' If this were happening in Perth, I definitely can say we’d do something, but—<br>
'''Christian:''' I understand that you’ve got your own hands full with your own city and limited resources.<br>
'''Desk Sergeant:''' We do. And honestly, sending in a bunch of troops to be shot at by a bunch of hill people is not high in priority. If they’re barricaded in, it seems the problem will solve itself.

So much for solidarity between the brothers in blue.

'''Desk Sergeant:''' You’re not from these parts, right?  You’re just travelers?<br>
'''Christian:''' No, we’re just travelers.  Concerned ones.<br>
'''Desk Sergeant:''' Well, then.  You don’t have too much to worry about.  From what I understand, you can’t get this unless you’re eating brains or have brains spattered on you from someone who’s been eating them, right?  You should be fine.  I’ll put in a call to the ACDC and see if they can send in a team to check it out.  We appreciate you filing this report.  We’ll need to get your ID and such…

We give it to him, we watch as he types it in, we thank him and leave. Nika pauses on the sidewalk in front of the station and cuts a look at Christian.

'''Nika:''' Why is it ‘not our problem’ always becomes our problem?<br>
'''Christian:''' Because…..we’re stupid.  So.  Should we go to the Alliance Center for Disease Control and have them tell us they’ll look into it?  Or should we just go back?<br>
'''Nika:''' You know what?  We’ll just go back.<br>
'''Christian:''' Okay.  

Nika starts walking.  Christian follows.

'''Christian:''' Shall we fly over on our way back? <br>
'''Nika:''' Sure.

And that’s what they do.  Nika flies the shuttle over the canopy where the logging camp should be, hoping to do a little air recon. 

Back in Brisbane, Rina and Rick do a little snooping on the cargo while stowing it in the clinic’s storage lockers.  There’s little doubt what’s really going on.  There is a camp in the hills reputed to be Browncoat-y and there are more supplies here than a town of 30 thousand people could possibly need.  It’s obvious to Rina, based on what David said, that these supplies are going to support a Browncoat movement up in the hills.  Certainly there’s no mistaking the fact that the bulk of the supplies are ex-military supplies.  Which only lends support to Rina’s speculations.  During the numerous trips back and forth, Rina also notices Johannes whispering something to Arden.  Arden’s expression takes on a concerned cast and he goes to a patient who’s being treated and starts examining her more thoroughly, doing more tests.  Rina can’t spare the time to investigate, but plows on with the cargo transfer.  With a little creativity and a lot of hard work, she and Rick shoehorn the supplies into the storage lockers.

Christian comms ahead, telling everyone that he and Nika are airborne and on the way back they’re going to try to check out the armed logging camp from above.  Also, that the police aren’t coming from Perth.  Nika cuts in, saying if we don’t hear from them in a couple of hours we’re to send in the cavalry.  Just land the ship on them.  Rina acknowledges, saying she thinks she’s got enough pilot skill to do that.

Flying over the general location of the camp, Nika spots an area of felled trees and inside it, a large building that looks to be the processing area.  The camp is fairly large.  A Cortex signal hails the shuttle.

'''Camp:''' We’ve got no landings here.  Return to where you’ve come from.  This is your only warning.<br>
'''Christian:''' Logging Camp, this is ''Summer’s Gift One''. 

Silence.

'''Christian:''' We would like to talk to the doctor, please.

More silence.  Then we hear the warble of our radar, telling us we’re being painted—someone is locking weapons on our shuttle.  Surface-to-air missiles, anyone?  It looks like the twitchy engineer was right after all.  

Nika buzzes the camp, flies low, takes her one look at it.  She sees that there are crossed-post barriers, of the sort that would normally support barbed wire and there is the flash of arms fire.  No missiles come snaking for them, however.  A mercy.  Nika weighs the factors, takes a calculated risk.

'''Nika:''' Ask them if they need supplies.<br>
'''Christian:''' Logging camp, this is ''Summer’s Gift One''.  Do you require any supplies?  Medicine? This is your last chance to ask for the medicine we delivered that was probably supposed to go to the doctor.  Who was probably going to bring it to you.

As fishing expeditions go, it went.  Nothing bites.  We hear nothing but silence on the comm.  Nika flies the shuttle out of there and Christian makes one last cast.

'''Christian:''' I do want to point out that we do have ex-Browncoat military aboard.

No response.

'''Christian:''' Okay.  Well.  Bye.  (cradles handset)  Yeah.  They’re unreasonably paranoid.<br>
'''Nika:''' The fact that they could lock onto us indicates that they have something out there.

Great.  

Nika flies the shuttle back to Brisbane without further incident.

'''Christian: So, hey.  How’re you doin’?<br>
'''Rina:''' (sourly) Well enough.  We moved 50 tons of shit.<br>
'''Christian:''' They’re set up for an assault.<br>
'''Rina:''' I could’ve told you that. Of course, they’re set up for an assault. You doubted David?<br>
'''Christian:''' And they’ve got the ability to lock on to a ship.<br>
'''Rina:''' With what?<br>
'''Christian:''' We don’t know.  They didn’t fire.  They did give us a warning that we shouldn’t attempt to land there.<br>
'''Nika:''' They pinged us with radar.  Could be a SAM, but they used hand weapons.<br>
'''Christian:''' They shot at us a couple of times.  Could you hit us with one of those shoulder rocket thingies?<br>
'''Nika:''' Yes you could.<br>
'''Rina:''' And you wouldn’t need anything in it to use the range finder.<br>
'''Nika:''' They could have shoulder-mounted, they could have Surface-to-Air and didn’t want to waste them on something like a shuttle…

There’s a quick flurry of info exchange between Rick and Rina’s observations on the ground and Nika and Christian’s aerial reconnaissance.

'''Christian:''' Actually that makes a lot of sense, her insane theory about them being a terrorist group—<br>
'''Rina:''' (annoyed) I didn’t say they were a terrorist group.  I said Browncoat group.<br>
'''Rick:''' If they were that much of a Browncoat group, don’t you think the Sailfish would have said, “Oh, we know those guys…”?<br>
'''Christian:''' Not necessarily.<br>
'''Rina:''' A splinter faction.<br>
'''Nika:''' My concern is we found out when we first came back here that the PDF is not really a horribly unified front.  And so for all we know, the ''Sailfish'' has nothing to do with Decatur and what she’s running. <br> 
'''Christian:''' Remember what they said: they said there were factions.  Some factions may not be aware of other factions.  This may have been a logging camp that was acting as a logging camp but also stockpiling medical supplies.<br>
'''Nika:''' For….whoever.<br>
'''Rina:''' It could be a listening post for the Resistance.<br>
'''Christian:''' True. It could be a way to keep an eye on the capitol.<br>
'''Rina:''' And of course, you know, people start going nuts with this Reaver disease…<br>
'''Christian:''' SO. Anyway, we have a choice. We can try to rescue the doctor, who for all we know doesn’t want to be rescued—<br>
'''Rina:''' (interrupting) What doctor do you know worth his lab coat is going to leave a whole town he’s supposed to be responsible for to go play weekend warrior up in the woods?<br>
'''Nika:''' (quietly) It depends on whether or not they have people sick up there with prion.<br>
'''Christian:''' It also depends on what kind of doctor he is.<br>
'''Rick:''' It was already sorta hinted that he may not be a real doctor in the sense of schooling.<br>
'''Christian:'''  More importantly, do we take on a logging camp with four-to-one odds—<br>
'''Rina:''' (interrupting again) Not without more firepower.<br>
'''Jake:''' Or give them a chance to get more reinforcements.<br>
'''Christian:''' Or do we leave now and go on our way?  We’ve already done all we can.<br>
'''Rick:''' Why don’t we just fly over the camp with ''Summer’s Gift'' and drop some cargo containers?

Why not, indeed?  Several half-tons of steel raining down would make anyone duck for cover.

'''Nika:''' ''Seriously?''<br>
'''Rick:''' Actually, it was a joke.<br>
'''Nika:''' We could, but we also don’t know how many civilians they may have in there. <br>
'''Rina:''' Could we parachute drop medical supplies to them?<br>
'''Christian:''' We offered them supplies and they didn’t reply.<br>
'''Nika:''' And they may not need them.<br>
'''Rick:''' Maybe they didn’t want to talk to you because they thought you were the police.<br>
'''Nika:''' We got paid in medicine.  We could always drop our share on them.<br>
'''Rick:''' But why would you do that for people who are murdering and burning bodies of other people that may or may not have the prion disease?<br>
'''Rina:''' That’s the only thing in my theory that doesn’t fit.<br>
'''Rick:''' The other thing too is why would you give medical supplies to potentially an entire group of people that could be infected with the prion disease?  That would be squandering the medicine.<br>
'''Nika:''' That’s the downside, yes.  We have actually no idea what’s going on up there.<br>
'''Christian:''' Here’s the thing.  If game is scarce like David said, they’re going to eventually run out of food.  At some point or another, it’s going to get ugly because they’re going to come in for the town.<br>
'''Nika:''' Not with just two dozen guys.  Not unless they’re actually sick in the head.

Which we’ve just established we cannot be sure of.

'''Christian:''' They’re probably better armed than the town is.<br>
'''Rina:''' And there are women and children in town.<br>
'''Nika:''' You’re still talking 30 thousand to 20.<br>
'''Christian:''' Do you remember the raiders, back when we first met?  All they had to do was raid a town and they caved.  Honestly, I think we should get in touch with Shyla and let her deal with it.<br>
'''Nika:''' We don’t know if we can.<br>
'''Rina:''' We could go back to Highgate and pick up the rest of the cache we left behind.<br>
'''Nika:''' Yeah, we could.

But it’s a stretch.

'''Rina:''' Okay, look. We’ve got a moral dilemma here.  We could leave these possibly so-to-be-crazy people up in the hills to prey on the defenseless people down the hill—.<br>
'''Christian:''' If it gets that far.  If they get paranoid enough, they’re going to turn on each other.<br>
'''Jake:''' Then it’s a win-win.<br>
'''Nika:''' Right. They’re just gonna shred one another.<br>
'''Christian:''' And it’s current thinking that it’s going to take Pax or Chempliance to turn them into full-on Reavers.  So, I don’t like it, but us going in will mean we’re going to die.  It’s just us killing ourselves.

Rina backs down, unable to refute the argument.

'''Rina:''' (sighing) We’ve done our duty. The authorities know, anyway.  Sucks.<br>
'''Christian:''' As they are.  Such as they are.  Wait.  You mean to tell me that for thirty thousand people they’ve got just one sheriff?<br>
'''Rina:''' Please tell me that they’ve got more than just one gun.<br>
'''Christian:''' Anyway, I say we go on to Muir.<br>
'''Nika:''' Yeah. It’s time to go.<br>
'''Rina:''' Okay.  It’s time to go.  Major suckage.<br>
'''Christian:''' Arden. You ready?<br>
'''Arden:''' Not until we set these people up.  You can go on to Muir and then come back for me.  I’m staying here until they get another doctor.<br>
'''Christian:''' They’re not going to get another doctor.<br>
'''Rick:''' Let’s go free the current doctor and let’s go do it.<br>
'''Nika:''' Seriously?<br>
'''Christian:''' Seriously?<br>
'''Rina:''' Seriously?<br>
'''Rick:''' Yeah. Why not?

Nika starts to laugh.  And just like that, the ball is back in play once more.

'''Rick:''' I mean, we’re runnin’ blockades with medical items. Tryin’ to help crazy people that may or may not be Reavers.

Really, how much crazier can we be ourselves?  This rescue op can’t be any less sane than what we’ve already done.

'''Nika:''' Fine. All right.

The possible plans start coming fast and furious.  Nix that idea.  We could bomb the place—but that would endanger our objective.  We could try to drug the camp with spiked food or booze—but there’s no telling if the campers would be trusting enough to eat or drink anything we dropped on them.  We have some Chempliance left and a trank gun to deliver it—but that would turn the campers into full-blown Reavers.  

'''Christian:''' We are not shooting them with Chempliance.<br>
'''Rina:''' I’m suggesting we use bullets. They’re cheaper.<br>
'''Christian:''' Because the current working theory is that Chempliance plus Prion disease equals ''' ''Grharhhhahghgh!'' '''<br>
'''Rina:''' (sarcastically) That’s very amusing, Christian.  Do that again.<br>
'''Nika:''' And there’s twenty four of them and four of us.  We have rifles and scopes.<br>
'''Rina:''' That’s six-to-one odds.<br>
'''Nika:''' That’s not too bad.<br>
'''Rick:''' Okay.  Are we talking about if we turn them into Reavers there’s only going to be twenty four of them?  Cuz then we’re screwed. We all saw what just one could do, and that’s in ship corridors when we had to use grenades on them. To escape. <br>
'''Nika:''' So we make head-shots.<br>
'''Rina:''' Yeah, I have to agree with Rick.  My shoulder’s telling me ‘Oookay, fine.’

We all have to laugh, because it’s just too grim and gory.  Christian sobers first.

'''Christian:''' Seriously, though.  No Chempliance.

And Arden’s serious about staying until we get Fong back.  It goes against his principles to just jet out of here and leave Brisbane to the tender mercies of Thompson’s camp.

'''Arden:'''  I mean, what are we doing here?  Are we just making money?  Is that what we’re planning?<br>
'''Christian:''' But we’re not making money.<br>
'''Arden:''' Then why are we here?  Why are we here, Christian?  Why are we on Meridian?<br>
'''Nika:''' (askance) This is a philosophical answer?

Because, after all, we’re already agreeing with him.

'''Arden:''' It’s a practical question.<br>
'''Rick:''' Yeah, because I thought we were supposed to be tryin’ to do good on the Rim.<br>
'''Nika:''' (hands up) All right….<br>
'''Christian:''' We can’t do good if we’re dead.<br>
'''Rina:''' What’s Jake got to say about all this?

True.  He’s along for the ride and filming it all.  He can be killed just as easily as the rest of us.

'''Jake:''' Hmmm.<br>
'''Rick:''' Imagine the good we can do by restoring a town of thirty thousand’s lone doctor, to whom we’ve just delivered 45 tons of medical supplies.  That’s the kind of good that warms your heart.<br>
'''Rina:''' (flexing her shoulder) Or warms your muscles.<br>
'''Christian:''' If my heart’s still beating at the end of it, it’ll be very warm.

No one says anything, but Arden’s still waiting for Christian’s answer.

'''Christian:''' Okay, we can go over with the ''Gift'', say they have to surrender the doctor or…. we’ll start dropping bombs on them.<br>
'''Rick:''' What if they really do have surface-to-air missiles?<br>
'''Christian:''' Then it’s better to be in the Gift than in the shuttle.<br>
'''Nika:''' Let’s just walk in.  If you make a threat, you have to be prepared to follow through with it. If you tell them you’re gonna drop a bomb on them, how exactly are you gonna accomplish that?<br>
'''Christian:''' We’re going to drop the cargo containers on them.<br>
'''Nika:''' Number one—that’s not a bomb.  Number two—No.<br>
'''Christian:''' It won’t matter.  If you hit them with a couple tons of metal, it will be as good as a bomb.<br>
'''Rina:''' Skunk our cargo?<br>
'''Nika:''' Basically.<br>
'''Christian:''' But that’s not my point.  I don’t have a great deal of hope for us walking through the woods—with you? Yes. (points to Rick). With the rest of us?  Going through the woods for several days, or at least a day?  Where they are going to have sentries and know the territory? No.  We’re going to be killed.<br>
'''Nika:''' I’m not convinced that they’re gonna have sentries out there.<br>
'''Christian:''' They’re gonna have sentries out there.<br>
'''Rick:''' What if I go through the woods and you go via the shuttle?  So drop me off at the fire pit and either wait or come back to the town.  Will our radios transmit that far?  Do we have a radio where I could just transmit static on a particular channel to let you know that I am in sight of the camp?<br>
'''Rina:''' I can definitely rig that up.<br>
'''Rick:''' That would give us time to see if they actually do have a surface to air missile and maybe I can shoot whoever’s using it.  And then you guys can land in the shuttle.<br>
'''Rina:''' Or disable it.<br>
'''Nika:''' I’m not entirely convinced that they have the weapons.<br>
'''Rick:''' Neither am I but it’s better to be safe than sorry.<br>
'''Nika:''' Remember, David said they were armed but they only used hand-held weapons to plink at the shuttle.<br>
'''Rick:''' In this case better safe than sorry.  And I agree, I could probably survive going through the woods and I probably won’t get caught.  But I’m sure the group of the four of us, even if we were all relatively good at land survival skills, that’s just more noise from the bigger group.<br>
'''Christian:'''  No, ''Rina'' will step on something.<br>
'''Rina:''' If there’s a stick within ten miles that should not be stepped on, Little Miss SNAFU Magnet here will step on it, I’m sure.

Rina’s not joking. She’s serious.

'''Jake:''' Of course, they’re expecting the Alliance or someone to come down on them.<br>
'''Nika:''' They really are. They’re barricaded for a force.<br>
'''Jake:''' Give them what they’re expecting.<br>
'''Christian:''' The Alliance?<br>
'''Jake:''' Well…they don’t have to know that it’s not the Alliance.<br>
'''Christian:''' Do you want to send them running?<br>
'''Jake:''' Well, no.<br>
'''Nika:''' We don’t have the heavy weapons to back up our assault in that fashion.<br>
'''Jake:''' If Rick can get in with a distraction, and just get Fong out, we can probably make them think that they’re being attacked by the Alliance. <br>
'''Rick:''' Yep.  We do have two shuttles and a ship.<br>
'''Rina:''' So you’re going to run in there screaming “The Russians are coming!” ? <br>
'''Christian:''' Nope.  He doesn’t have to. We’re going to create the distraction, he’s going to go in and extract the doctor.<br>
'''Rick:''' Yeah.  You could just drop crap from the shuttles or just buzz them in the shuttles  or have the ship fly over us or something like that.<br>
'''Jake:''' Have one shuttle flying, have the Gator out on the perimeter movin’ around so they have to monitor a whole big area.  Two dozen men is pretty thin once you spread out a couple hundred meters.

We consider that for a moment as Jake’s scenario sinks in.

'''Nika:''' The Gator’s not gonna make it up there. Not with that track.<br>
'''Jake:''' (not buying it) Are you sayin’ you can’t drive the Gator?<br>
'''Nika:''' I’m saying I can’t drive the Gator and fly the shuttle.<br>
'''Jake:''' You’re not the only one who can fly a shuttle.<br>
'''Nika:''' Can you fly well enough to evade a SAM?<br><br>
'''Rick:''' If you fly low enough, you don’t have to worry about that.
'''Jake:''' You just run if they get a lock on you.  Just fly around. Just keep them busy.

Christian agrees with Nika.  There’s no telling how many mines the loggers have planted on the road to their camp.  And unless we’ve got Rick on foot, walking in front of the Gator the entire time, we lose him as a stealth asset.  Jake counters we can take it off the road, since it’s not likely the loggers would have planted mines there.  And if we take the Gator off the road at the point we’d found the IED, we’re talking a lot of underbrush to plow through.  However, the Gator is built for that kind of action.  And if Thompson and his men are holed up and paranoid about the Marshals descending on them at any minute, it might not take a whole squadron of Gators to convince them the law has arrived….maybe it would take only one.

We quickly divide ourselves up into teams.  Rick will ride the Gator to the IED site and go the rest of the way on foot to infiltrate the camp.  Rina will drive him there.  Nika and Arden will take a shuttle each.  Jake and Christian will ride along in a shuttle each, with Jake accompanying Arden in case his shuttle goes down and Christian riding with Nika.  We have 15 smoke grenades, 10 concussion grenades and 15 flash bangs.  The shuttle teams will start tossing them out into the camp to create covering chaos on the ground.

'''Rina:''' See?  Aren’t you glad I convinced you to bring the damn grenades?

Nika tells us to keep the concussion grenades back for last and Rick chooses two flash bangs and a smoke grenade for himself while on the ground.  He’ll wear his ballistic mesh and take his sniper and assault rifles, too.  His pistol and his knives are going in with him as well.  Rina packs her assault rifle, a flash bang and three concussion grenades in addition to her usual gear, with her tool bag on top of the pile.  Both Christian and Jake have rifle skill, allowing each shuttle to have a shooter.  Christian takes seven smoke and three concussion grenades, six flash bangs and an assault rifle with him on his shuttle.  Nika takes the same complement of grenades and her rifle.

The plan will have Nika and Arden flying as air cav for our man on the ground, with Jake and Christian playing door gunner.  Rina’s job is to drive the Gator around in the woods and play rubber ducky for the perimeter guards to shoot at.

'''Rina:''' Are you sure I shouldn’t have more grenades? <br>
'''Nika:''' You’re driving.  You don’t have anybody else in the Gator with you.  You’re best bet is to keep moving.<br>
'''Rina:''' What’s Johannes doing?<br>
'''Christian:''' We’re not taking him.<br>
'''Nika:''' Taking Johannes with us? That’s insane.

Johannes has been listening in the entire time and now speaks up.

'''Johannes:''' I’ll go with you.<br>
'''Rina:''' (jokingly) Well, I can strap him to the roof and have them shoot at him.<br>
'''Johannes:''' Can I come with you, Rick?<br>
'''Rick:''' While I’m on the ground?<br>
'''Johannes:''' I might be able to help you.<br>
'''Rick:''' You can come with us in the Gator, but I don’t know once I’m out of the Gator…<br>
'''Johannes:''' I’m pretty good on my feet.<br>
'''Rick:''' Are you good at being quiet?<br>
'''Johannes:''' Yeah.<br>
'''Rick:''' I don’t have a problem with you coming in the Gator, but we’ll see about the rest afterwards.

Christian was reviewing our postions on the vehicles and at this exchange he turns to Rick.

'''Christian:''' We’re taking the pothead?<br>
'''Rick:''' He just asked me if he could come and—<br>
'''Christian:''' Arden, please check him out to make sure he doesn’t have any slow reflexes or anything that would get us killed in a fight. <br>
'''Arden:''' He’s physically fit.  He’s not slow.  I don’t know what else I can say without breaking confidentiality.<br>
'''Christian:''' You don’t have to break confidentiality.  All you have to say is whether or not in a fight he’s going to be more of a liability than an asset.<br>
'''Arden:''' I don’t know.  I honestly don’t know.<br>
'''Christian:''' (to Johannes) You realize if you come with us, there is a very good chance that you are going to die.  You realize there is a chance you can cause someone else’s death.<br>
'''Johannes: '''Fair enough.

So Rina’s picked up a wingman in the Gator: Johannes is coming.  Nika takes him out back and has him prove to her that he can shoot. He shoots just fine and Christian issues Johannes a rifle.  Rina decided to add a shotgun to her equipment list, for close encounters.  We also pack a radio transponders each. In case our regular comms don’t work, we’ll still be able to track where we are.

We turn in for the night to rest up for the mission, and the following morning move out early.  It takes us a half-day to get to the IED site and our drop off point for Rick.  Johannes gets out of the Gator to follow him.

'''Johannes:'''  I’ll come with you—oh, c’mon.<br>
'''Rina:''' I need you to help me with the diversionary tactic.<br>
'''Johannes:''' But you don’t know where Fong is, right?  You’re going to need help looking for him.<br>
'''Rina:''' You don’t know where he is, either.<br>
'''Johannes:''' I know doctors.  I’ve seen a lot of doctors.  Besides, you folks might need me.

Johannes seems strangely animated now, in a way we’ve never seen him and there’s something about him that makes us remember all the other little quirks and twitches we’ve observed in him.  Like is ability to mimic another person’s mannerisms, before winking and claiming it’s all a joke.  Like his penchant for answering questions before they’re asked.  And the woman that Johannes pointed out to Arden earlier in the clinic was indeed ill with the Prion disease, yet her case had gone undetected by others.

Hmmm…..precognition, perhaps?  A reader? Either way, he could be useful in a fight, creepy though he sometimes can be.  Rick asks him point blank: 

'''Rick:''' If you were to come with me and I tell you you have to leave and go back to the Gator, will you do it?<br>
'''Johannes:''' Sure.<br>
'''Rick:''' Okay.<br>
'''Rina:''' Okay.  More party favors for me.  Bye.  Have fun.

Rina watches Rick and Johannes disappear into the brush, and then puts the Gator into gear and drives carefully off-road past the blast site, going further up the mountain.  Her job is to roam around near the camp, creating a distraction and waiting for the pick-up signal—a whole bunch of sudden static on a predetermined comm channel.

Rick has a rough map of the area and he and Johannes make good time, better than if they’d remained on the marked trail.   Johannes proves to be a reasonably fit kid, perhaps surprisingly so for someone who’s supposed to be a drug addict.  Then again, Johannes has spent the past three weeks on a ship eating regular meals and being unable to indulge his drug habit at his accustomed levels.  A mini-drying out, as it were.  It doesn’t take them long to crest the hill over the camp.  

Looking down into the hollow Rick and Johannes see a broad bowl in the mountain side cleared of trees and dotted by several buildings, with an informal equipment yard with tracked vehicles to the side: log puller, claw, bulldozer, etc.  The river runs through it downslope and there is a small dock with a boat tied at the end of it.  One of the buildings looks to house barracks and the other of the large buildings looks to house the mess hall and the administrative offices for the logging camp.  The camp is surrounded by a wire stockade fence, topped with razor wire.  The stockade entrance is flanked by cross barriers made of wood.  Of which there is obviously plentiful supply.  The road runs through the gate.  At the moment there are only two armed guards in view, strolling their beat with their rifles slung low.

Johannes stops for a second, standing very still, and Rick pauses to wait for him.

'''Johannes:''' Having some trouble. Something’s come up.<br>
'''Rick:''' (low voice) What’s going on, man?  What do you mean?

Johannes shakes his head and sighs.

'''Johannes:''' All right.  They’re pretty messed up down there.  Ahhh….I think he’s on the second floor.  Of this building.  

Johannes points it out below.  It’s kinda weird, but Rick just goes with it.

'''Rick:''' How many people are inside the building, do you think?<br>
'''Johannes:''' There’s six and …well…five or six.

Not too bad odds, three-to-one.  Rick settles to wait for Rina and once he hears her approaching, he sends the static signal over our channel. 

In the Gator, Rina’s actually enjoying herself, plowing through the bushes and toppling baby saplings.  The Gator has all it’s lights blazing and a loudspeaker mounted on the top of it and when she crests the rise over the camp, she thumbs it live and in her best Alliance-forces voice hails the people below.

'''Rina:''' Attention, Camp!  This is the Federal Marshals.  Come out with your hands up and your weapons down.  You have one chance.

One of the men runs into one of the buildings, the other runs to the stockade barrier.  On the high ground above the camp, Rick turns to Johannes.

'''Rick:''' Whaddya think?<br>
'''Johannes:''' I think we should go in.<br>
'''Rick:''' Let’s go.

Johannes puts his rifle down and goes into the hollow for the camp.  Rick follows.  They make it through the fence and to the corner of the two-story building right enough.  Johannes pulls Rick back in a sudden move, narrowly missing being seen by another armed guard.  

Whew.

'''Johannes:''' Take a look. (points around the corner)

Rick looks.  It’s clear.  They go forward. 

Meanwhile, Rina backs the Gator up and starts plowing along the ridgeline and then barrels down into the compound to start making donuts in the main yard of the camp.  The Gator’s armored, so rifle fire does nothing more than plink! off the chassis.  She tosses some flash bangs and zooms around making donuts some more.

Rick and Johannes slip into the building unobserved.  Stairs go up immediately in front of them, with a hallway off to the side leading to the cafeteria, glimpsed at the far end.  Rick turns to Johannes.

'''Rick:''' Should we go up the stairs?<br>
'''Johannes:''' Yeah. (a beat) You first.

Rick heads on up the u-turn stairs and debouches in a hallway that runs the length of the building’s outer wall.  It’s empty.  He checks behind him and Johannes isn’t there.  Great.  There is no time to look for the young man and Rick pushes on without him. A door on the hallway opens up unexpectedly, filled by a large man holding a pistol.  He looks odd and twitchy and ready to shoot.  Rick shoots first, then shoots again when the other guy misses.  Even though Rick manages to hit the man both times, it seems as if the hits just don’t register.  The man falls to Rick’s fire nonetheless.  Is it Prion disease?  Has the man been infected?  Rick isn’t sure, beyond the fact the man didn’t look or act entirely right.  He moves on to the door the man exited.

Outside, Rina’s whooping it up and barreling around like a mad thing.  She’s drawing fire, which pings off the Gator harmlessly.  And she notices that the people doing the firing are shooting with complete disregard for other people and property.  Their shots hit the buildings, the equipment, the woods…perhaps even each other.  Rina keeps plowing around, keeping an eye on the barricaded entrance to see if it’s clear for her to bust right through when it’s time to go.

Aloft, Nika and Arden buzz the camp in the shuttles, dropping their smoke grenades to provide our men on the ground more cover.  Jake is busily filming everything.

Inside the building, Rick looks through the door and sees an older-looking man, tied up inside.  He looks a little odd, but thankfully not Prion disease-odd.

'''Older man:''' Ah.  Who are you?<br>
'''Rick:''' I’m Rick Allen from Summer’s Gift. We’re here to rescue you.  Are you Dr. Fong?<br>
'''Older man:''' Please untie me.

Rick wastes no time cutting through the ropes with his knife and gets the doctor to his feet.  Fong asks if Brisbane hired Rick to rescue him and Rick says yes, more interested in getting them out of there in one piece than being accurate in his response.  Fong is grateful and delighted, saying at last his years of service to the townsfolk are being rewarded.  Fong excitedly says that Rick has to be careful, that the camp personnel seem to be infected with some sort of brain disease.

We’re well ahead of you there, sir.

Rick leads the doctor down the stairs, comms the shuttles for pick up, and keeps an eye out for more personnel.  At the bottom of the stairs, he hears some sounds coming from the cafeteria and Rick takes a risk and investigates.  Stepping into the cafeteria, Rick hears the distinctive sound of a knife hitting the wood wall behind him and as it fades, Johannes’s voice calls out quietly.

'''Johannes:''' Rick. Is that you?<br>
'''Rick:''' Yeah.<br>
'''Johannes:''' Okay, c’mon.  Let’s go.  I heard gunfire. Is everyone okay?<br>
'''Rick:''' I ran into someone.  I took care of it.

They both get out of there and Rick asks Johannes if he’d eaten anything out of the cafeteria.  Johannes tells him no.

Above the camp, Christian alerts Rina of the pick-up signal and tells her where to go.  She leaves off making donuts and drives for the buildings.  She hears Rick call her directly to tell her exactly where the rescue party is.  She pulls up to the walls, pops the doors open, yells at them to get in. They pile in and she puts the pedal to the metal and zooms for the barricade entrance.  She blows through it and an explosion goes off to either side of the Gator.  The Gator  buffets through, and there’s a grinding noise as Rina drives on.  But the Gator is still running, Rina’s still on the road and getting away from the camp is the first priority.  She’ll suss out what’s wrong with the Gator later.


<br><br>
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