Editing Episode 601: Triumph, Part Four

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[[Episode 601: Triumph|Part 1]]<br>
[[Episode 601: Triumph, Part Two|Part 2]]<br>
[[Episode 601: Triumph, Part Three|Part 3]]<br>
[[Episode 601: Triumph, Special Features]]<br> <br> <br>


And now we get to the really big brass tacks.<br><br>

'''Joshua:''' Yeah. Understood. What do you want to know?<br>
'''Macadam:''' I’ll have to see this ship of yours.<br>
'''Joshua:'''  Happy to take you.<br>
'''Macadam:''' Easy enough to take an old Navy shuttle and make it look like it’s all civilian, but ...<br>
'''Joshua:''' Our ship’s got a little bit of Browncoat history about it. So ... that doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but why don’t you come see our ship.<br>
'''Macadam:''' All right.  You gonna buy something? You know, just in case. It would look suspicious you didn’t.<br>
'''Joshua:''' For our cover, yes.<br>
'''Kiera:''' What would you reccommend, cuz I don’t recognize any of this stuff.<br>
'''Macadam:''' I don’t think you’re tellin’ the whole truth.<br>
'''Kiera:''' (playfully) D’oh! I think I’m losin’ my touch.  All right, what would make it more believable? Cuz I know ’bout everything you got in here. SO you tell me what would be normal for me to walk out of here with, that you would totally make me buy?<br>
'''Macadam:''' The most expensive.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Now go and pretend I’m ''poor''. Cuz they don’t pay ’nuff.  I don’t have any money.<br>
'''Joshua:''' That’s true. (a beat) Actually ... do you got any hallucinogens in there?<br>
'''Macadam:''' Ah, sure.<br>
'''Joshua:''' Give me some of those.<br><br>

Um. Wait. Didn’t Joshua just say he’d come ''off'' the drugs? Kiera looks askance.<br><br>

'''Kiera:''' Whatever for?<br>
'''Joshua:''' I don’t know. I haven’t decided yet.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Gonna rufie the Captain? <br>
'''Joshua:''' No. I’m not gonna rufie the Captain. My personal use only. (to Macadam) How  much are you gonna run me? For LSD?<br><br>

LSD for the man, coming right up. Money changes hands. Joshua walks out with drugs in his pocket and Kiera walks out wondering what the hell he’s going to do with them.<br><br>

'''Kiera:''' You realize I could go and gas you and get you the same thing. I put you under a little bit of anesthesia? Same effect. Less headache.<br>
'''Joshua:''' Are you really complaining because I kept you from having to spend money?<br>
'''Kiera:''' I ''like'' spending money.<br>
'''Joshua:''' But I thought you liked ''not'' spending money more.<br>
'''Kiera:''' No, I like spending money a lot. I like making it a lot. <br><br>

What she doesn’t like is people spending money that should be hers. Furthermore ...<br><br>

'''Kiera:''' What I also don’t like is you spent money and didn’t spend it on ''me''.<br><br>


Meanwhile, back at the bar ...<br><br> 

'''Nika:''' We’re only gonna be here for about six hours. So if the guys don’t show up, we’ll just take the cargo and sell it to somebody else.<br>
'''Bartender''' Well, what’s the cargo.<br>
'''Nika:''' It’s like, some kinda electronics or some such crap.<br>
'''Bartender:''' Data boxes and stuff? Cortex boxes? Anything we would want here?<br>
'''Nika:''' No, probably nothing you would want. I think these guys were sellin’ it more for scrap than anything.<br>
'''Bartender:''' Hmm. This is a weird place to sell it for scrap, but ... (shrugs)<br>
'''Nika:''' I don’t think they were necessarily sellin’ it here but they were takin’ the cargo and passin’ it on. Take it off planet. Just a guess on my part. Just take it and drop it off, that’s what they told me.<br>
'''Bartender:''' Well we don’t get a lot of traffic out here but it doesn’t surprise me that they would. The only people—just Macadam and those guys were the only ones who got off-planet stuff.<br>
'''Nika:''' Macadam?<br>
'''Bartender:''' The apothecary.<br>
'''Nika:''' Oh. Well ... (looks askance)<br>
'''Bartender:''' She’s harmless.<br>
'''Nika:''' She seemed a little ... (gestures: ''looney'') ... touched.<br>
'''Bartender:''' Yeah. Probably. I think she may use a few of her herbs. Not medicinally.<br>
'''Nika:''' Yeah. I’ve met a few people like that. (sips beer) So you don’t know if the camp that was out east of here had any additional people or anything? It looked like they left in a mighty big hurry.<br>
'''Bartender:''' Nope.<br>
'''Nika:''' Okay. Thanks for your help. Thanks for the beer. It was pretty good.<br>
'''Joshua:''' Captain!<br><br>

He sticks his head into the bar in high spirits.<br><br>

'''Nika:''' Yeah?<br>
'''Joshua:''' C’mon, Captain.<br>
'''Nika:''' (to Bartender) ''Thanks'' for the beer.<br>
'''Bartender:''' All right. Next time you’re in town ...<br><br>

Nika and Kiera take up their beers and drain them. Nika is a little put out over the interruption—she was just getting the bartender to talk, dammit. Nonetheless, we gather up our crew and leave.  Joshua fills Nika in on things as they go.<br><br>

'''Joshua:''' So. I’ve got some drugs. And a Browncoat.<br>
'''Kiera:''' (whaps his arm) Oh, you took my thunder! I was gonna tell her you got drugs. <br>
'''Nika:''' (wryly) Well, that was a right lucrative trip you had there. Nice job, darlin’.<br>
'''Joshua:''' We’ll take her back to the ship and let her take a look around, cuz I think she needs to give us the once over, I think.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Or it depends on what set of glasses she brings.<br>
'''Nika:''' All right. Let’s go. And let’s get her moving pretty quick, cuz if the ones in the bar are the ones who turned in the campers or somethin’ ...<br>
'''Joshua:''' All right.<br><br> 


We collect Macadam and take her with us to Equinox. She disembarks Lagniappe and looks around, nodding and muttering to herself. We introduce her to everyone. She pauses, practically sniffing each of us out. Joshua stands still and let the woman sniff him. He grins.<br><br>

'''Joshua:''' You remind me of someone. You remind me of Queenie, who I met once. I liked her.<br>
'''Macadam:''' Well, that’s nice.<br>
'''Arden:''' Uhn.<br>
'''Macadam:''' So ... you’re clearly not Alliance regulars.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Bite your tongue.<br>
'''Arden:''' What do Alliance regulars look like?<br>
'''Rina:''' [[Episode 601: Triumph, Special Features#HOW TO SPEAK CHINESE|''Zhícháng'']]. [[Episode 601: Triumph, Special Features#HOW TO SPEAK RUSSIAN|''Zhopeh'']]. Didn’t you know?<br>
'''Macadam:''' (smiling) It’s often hard to tell. There’ve been stories of people pretending to be something they’re not.<br>
'''Nika:''' Cut to the chase and tell me what will make you feel better about this? Cuz I don’t wanna sit here much longer with this cargo if anybody in that town turned these people in.<br> 
'''Macadam:''' That’s pretty smart.<br>
'''Arden:''' I’m ... going to go and set the sensors to long-range. Big things moving. Alert us.<br>
'''Nika:''' Yeah. Good idea.<br><br>

Arden goes to do just that.<br><br>

'''Nika:''' So my XO says you’re a Browncoat. Where from?<br>
'''Macadam:''' So ... Shadow. Back in the day. Been a few years.<br>
'''Nika:''' Yeah, it has.<br>
'''Rina:''' Ohh ... There’s problems on Shadow.<br>
'''Nika:''' What? There’s problems all over.<br>
'''Rina:''' There’s ... <br><br>

The engineer trails off but whatever she’s thinking, she keeps to herself.<br><br>

'''Macadam:''' I’m not ... how to put this? ... Really, I guess, their partner, but more of a ...<br>
'''Nika:''' But you can get me in touch with somebody who can get this where it needs to go.<br>
'''Macadam:''' Well ... how much are we talkin’ about? How big is this cargo<br>
'''Nika:''' Got three hundred tons.<br>
'''Rina:''' In volume.<br>
'''Nika:''' In volume.<br>
'''Macadam:''' Three hundred tons. Okay. That’s more than I can hide in my shop.<br>
'''Nika:''' They don’t have a bolt hole somewhere near here we can put in a canyon somewhere?<br>
'''Macadam:''' Yeah, maybe can do that. Maybe I can call them and see if they have their own ship they can—where’d this come from? Was it local or was it from far off?<br>
'''Joshua:''' Beaumonde. That’s a bit of a journey. And he should have known that you were coming, right?<br>
'''Nika''': He should’ve known we were comin’.<br>
'''Macadam:''' Does he have a—he must’ve had a Cortex box out here. Whoever got him must have got the box. I can’t ....<br> 
'''Joshua:''' Get a Cortex box?<br>
'''Macadam:''' What’s that?<br><br>

Macadam looks at Joshua, blinking as she comes out of her thoughts.<br><br>

'''Joshua:''' You said you need a Cortex box?<br>
'''Nika:''' Rina?<br>
'''Rina:''' Ma’am?<br>
'''Nika:''' Could one of those ... if they had one here, could it send to one of those already here?<br><br>

Meaning, if we fired up one of the network devices from our cargo, could we connect to another one of the devices if it were already up and running in the hands of the people we’re looking for? <br><br>

'''Rina:''' Only if it were in range.<br>
'''Nika:''' Go pull it.<br>
'''Rina:''' Okay.<br>
'''Nika:''' It’s worth a shot.<br>
'''Rina:''' Yes.<br>
'''Nika:''' And it’s meant to take images, yeah?<br>
'''Rina:''' Yes, ma’am.<br>
'''Nika:''' Take a shot of the cargo itself. There’s no identifying characteristics in the cargo bay?<br>
'''Rina:''' No, ma’am.<br>
'''Nika:''' Have it take a shot of the cargo itself.<br><br>

Rina retraces her steps in unwrapping the cargo and does as ordered. Meanwhile, Nika asks Macadam a few more questions.<br><br>

'''Nika:''' Do you have a way to contact them? Or someone with them? Obviously I have a transmitter. You can use the one on the bridge.<br>
'''Macadam:''' Let me think about it a little bit. He got burned by someone.<br>
'''Nika:''' Clearly.<br>
'''Macadam:''' So you understand I gotta be a little careful.<br>
'''Joshua:''' We got it. Trust me, we got it.<br>
'''Macadam:''' I don’t wanna start somethin’ and then have it get reported on some Alliance box and put it down on a network somewhere.<br>
'''Nika:''' Yeah, that would be bad.<br> 
'''Joshua:''' Take your time.<br>
'''Macadam:''' Things have already gone bad enough as it is, so I think I can trust you.  I’ve got a device that will anonymize my location if I could use your Cortex box.<br>
'''Nika:''' Joshua. Take her to a box. Meanwhile we’re gonna pull one of the devices from the cargo itself and if they have one here, in theory if they’re in range, it will transmit a shot of the cargo.<br>
'''Macadam:''' Can I take one of those? A shot of the cargo?<br>
'''Nika:''' Yes, that’s where my engineer went. Was to go get one.<br><br>

Arden is still on the sensors and Nika checks with him on their status. He tells her they’re set to automatically let us know if anything greater than a shuttle comes within ten miles.<br><br>  

'''Nika:''' Even ten miles will give us enough warning to do something. <br>
'''Arden:''' Unless they’re going at supersonic speed. And then we’re humped.<br>
'''Nika:''' Yeah, well. I can still get us off the ground if that’s the case.<br><br>

Joshua leads Macadam to the bridge right behind Nika and puts the apothecary on a box, gets the cargo device up and running for her, let her take a look at it. He watches her carefully to determine if she knows what it is or how it works. He wants to know how far into the loop she’s in. She doesn’t seem to recognize it. Kiera is also watching her closely and sees she’s wearing cosmetics to make her look older—adding blemishes and wrinkles—and that her hair is dyed. The cosmetics are high quality and expensive, incongruous with the setting and the persona wearing them. Kiera edges a little closer to her. Macadam is plugging in her anonymizer into our cortex box and hovers protectively over the screen, looks askance at Kiera.<br><br>

'''Macadam:''' There somethin’ wrong, missy?<br>
'''Kiera:''' Oh I’m just kinda curious as to what you’re doin’.<br>
'''Macadam:''' I’m tryin’ to contact my people.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Hmm.<br><br>

Kiera’s voice is curious and friendly but the crew recognizes that slight edge that says she’s found something.<br><br> 

'''Joshua:''' Kiera?<br>
'''Kiera:''' (softly) I’m just lookin’. (to Macadam) Who does your makeup?<br>
'''Macadam:''' (touches her hair) Oh, I just do my own.<br>
'''Kiera:''' You’ve mixed some fine quality stuff. You sell that?<br>
'''Macadam:''' Well, my associates send me packets for my business. This stuff just comes from the pharmacies that I use for my health care.<br><br>

Macadam looks a touch self-conscious at Kiera’s attention. Nika exchanges a glance with Joshua behind Macadam and Kiera, her eyes narrowing. Joshua nods and Reads Macadam.  Is she lying? ''::Possibly::''<br><br>

'''Kiera:''' I was just wondering. Cuz the people I know that who need it are bad-off poor and that’s some nice stuff you got.<br>
'''Macadam:''' You know, this is not my regular job. I just play the apothecary so I can do my real business here.<br>
'''Kiera:''' It pays extraordinarily well cuz that’s some great foundation you use.<br>
'''Macadam:''' As I say, I don’t buy that myself.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Somebody gave it to you. You got some mighty nice friends, don’cha?<br><br>

It’s not a question. Macadam straightens in her chair.<br><br>

'''Macadam:''' My job here is to look. I’m an observer. I have to be ... unthreatening ...  to be a good observer.<br>		
'''Joshua:''' But my question is of whom?<br>
'''Kiera:''' Yeah, you see, that’s the question.<br>
'''Macadam:''' (carefully now...) I thought we were ... all together. Right?<br>
'''Kiera:''' Well I don’t know if we’re all together. See the funny thing was is that nobody I knew like what you said you were could get a-hold of the quantities of drugs like you seem to have done.<br>
'''Joshua:''' And we’re pretty sure you might be fibbing, just a tiny bit, about the makeup.<br>
'''Kiera:''' I never accused her of lyin’. I just said it was mighty fine—<br>
'''Joshua:''' No, I just did.<br>
'''Kiera:''' (groks it!) Ah. Oh, well. If you’ve opened the door then I shall walk through. Yeah, that makeup ain’t goin’ to work.<br><br>

Joshua backs off, gives the fish a bit of line to play it.<br><br>

'''Joshua:''' Why don’t we just ... (gestures: ''calm down'') ... You had to check on us. We had to get a feel for ... (gesture: ''you'')<br> 
'''Macadam:''' I think it’s smart to be cautious. <br>
'''Joshua:''' Agreed.<br>
'''Macadam:''' That’s why I was checkin’ on you. You were checkin’ on me. That’s fine.<br>
'''Joshua:''' Yeah, we’ll take some time. Why don’t we head back to the lounge for a minute and talk.<br>
'''Kiera:''' You might wanna unplug that thing off the Cortex for a minute though. You can understand.<br>
'''Joshua:''' (agreeing) Yeah.<br>
'''Macadam:''' All right.<br>
'''Joshua:''' Cuz since we’re all together and all ...<br>
'''Kiera:''' I was gonna say, might as well take to the kitchen. We’ll have some coffee and talk.<br><br>

Yeah. And Kiera doesn’t mention aloud: ''That’s where the knives are, too''.  She and Joshua and Macadam go to the galley and the java is poured. Kiera hands her a big ol’ mug of it and everyone goes back out to the crew lounge to sit at the table.<br><br>

'''Macadam:''' (looking nervous now) ... Okay ...<br>
'''Kiera:''' It’s a cup of coffee. We’re just gonna talk.<br> 
'''Joshua:''' So.<br>
'''Kiera:''' So, do you know about why or who might have turned in those nice guys that were just doin’ their own thing? How they got caught? Who you suspect?<br>
'''Macadam:''' Well I reckon there were some traitors.<br>
'''Kiera:''' (sips coffee) Might be. (looks at Joshua) So ... who in the town do you guess it might’a been?<br>
'''Macadam:''' Are you accusing me of being some sort of collaborator with the Alliance or somethin’?<br>
'''Kiera:''' All right, since he was very bold, yeah, I actually am. So, if I am, why would I be wrong?<br>
'''Macadam:''' This is based on what? that I have some make up. You all do that? Makeup?<br>
'''Joshua:''' Yeah, that’s about the size of it.<br><br>

The rest of the crew has arrived and they file into the lounge. Rina comes up from the cargo hold, device in hand, and leans against the jamb for the stairs down. Nika takes in the tableau at the table and raises a brow.<br><br>

'''Nika:''' Somebody wanna fill me in?<br>
'''Kiera:''' Just questioning her choice in makeup. I didn’t ever have makeup that good. Well, hell, I had access to crap like that. It’s an odd thing. I mean, you know, poor people on the Rim. (to Nika) Did they send shipments of something that good a quality to you?<br>
'''Arden:''' I lost something. She’s wearing nice makeup. So what?<br>
'''Rina:''' (intoning) Rusty chain. Secured by shiny lock. What’s wrong with this picture?<br>
'''Macadam:''' I don’t even know what it is. It’s just what they send. They said to use it as a disguise or somethin’.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Mm-hm.<br>
'''Macadam:''' You know, to make me look a little older, wear the goggles to hide my eyes, that kinda stuff.<br>
'''Nika:''' Joshua.<br><br>

Meaning: ''Read her''. Joshua Reads. ''::She’s still defensive about something::'' <br><br>


'''Macadam:''' If you don’t trust me to contact people, why don’t you contact yours and have ’em check me up there?<br>
'''Joshua:''' And ''there'' it comes. On small details do lies fall apart. (a beat) I trust Kiera. Especially when it comes to makeup.<br><br>

Nika fetches a wet washcloth from the galley and hands it out to Macadam.<br><br>

'''Nika:''' Clean it off.<br>
'''Macadam:''' What? The kitchen?<br>
'''Nika:''' The makeup.<br><br>

The mood in the room is watchful and quiet. No one says a word. Macadam does as ordered. The woman thus revealed is a little younger, her frizzy hair making her look a little older. Nika looks at Rina.<br><br>

'''Nika:''' Check our box. Go ahead and take a picture of that cargo and send it the way it’s supposed to be sent. Not using our Cortex, but the device. If the people waiting for the cargo are in range, they’ll pick it up. In the meantime, check what she was trying to use on our Cortex box.<br>
'''Rina:''' Yes, ma’am.<br>
'''Arden:''' Assuming that the network protocol is different from what we’re using now, can we detect the network for these boxes?<br><br>

On a sparsely planet like Triumph, yeah. Arden goes with Rina to the bridge and scans for the device’s signal when she sends the photo. It’s not very strong but he picks it up. He gauges the other devices would have to be about 100 yards away, max, to be able to pick up the signal. If our contact is in range, at 100 yards, we should have found him and his cohorts by now. Back at the lounge, Kiera turns to Macadam.<br><br>

'''Kiera:''' So, I got a question. If the other people show up this—assuming it’s cargo—and you’re there, are they going to be happy to see you or are they goin’ to be happy in a completely different way? That we got you locked up here?<br>
'''Macadam:''' My friends? My friends would be happy that I was locked up?<br>
'''Joshua:''' Now that’s an interesting statement.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Mm-hm.<br>
'''Macadam:''' Why would my friends be happy that I’m locked up?<br>
'''Kiera:''' Well, if you were the one who betrayed them and so the people what got away are what’s comin’ to get our cargo—<br>
'''Macadam:''' I wouldn’t be much of a friend.<br>
'''Kiera:''' You wouldn’t be much of a friend.<br><br>

Rina breaks into the anonymizer and the first thing she sees is it’s set to Alliance military codes.<br><br>

'''Rina:''' [[Episode 601: Triumph, Special Features#HOW TO SPEAK RUSSIAN|''Yebat’ menya!'']]<br><br>

It’s not activated, for which Rina utters a few more obscenities in her gratitude.  Nika’s sharp ears hear her down the length of the ship and knows this cannot mean good news. Her engineer saves the prolonged Russian swearing for the really bad news.<br><br>

'''Nika:''' Well. I’m thinking that will be confirmation.<br>
'''Joshua:''' Yeah.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Uhnn. She’s cussin’ in Russian and I hate it when I can’t understand what she’s sayin’.<br><br>

Kiera draws her pistol and cocks it at Macadam. Macadam starts talking fast.<br><br>

'''Macadam:''' Okay, okay, okay, okay! Before we get crazy—<br>
'''Joshua:''' Too late for that, but go on.<br>
'''Kiera:''' I’m not gettin’ crazy. They don’t believe in killin’. We’ll all just wound you a little bit so it hurts.<br><br>

From the bridge everyone hears quite clearly: ''you [[Episode 601: Triumph, Special Features#HOW TO SPEAK RUSSIAN|sliushka]] bitch!''<br><br>

'''Nika:''' Oh, she used the ''sliushka'' again. That’s not good.<br>
'''Kiera:''' I don’t know what that means. I just know that I—do I have enough bullets in here? (checks her gun) Yes, I got one in here. I got two in here. Hell, that’s enough.<br>
'''Joshua:''' So go on. I’m happy to hear what you have to say.<br>
'''Macadam:''' So obviously, things are a little more complicated ... ?<br>
'''Nika:''' (drawls softly) A ''little more'' complicated.<br>
'''Macadam:''' Well ... what can I tell you? <br>
'''Kiera:''' What can you tell—why, what can you—<br>
'''Joshua:''' Let her talk.<br>
'''Macadam:''' I may have ... misled you about my actual ...  job here.<br> 
'''Nika:''' Uh-huh.<br>
'''Macadam:''' But, uhm, I don’t know what those things are, but I do know that they are very dangerous.<br>
'''Nika:''' Um-hm.<br>
'''Joshua:''' Wait. You ''don’t'' know what they—? Never mind. Go on.<br>
'''Macadam:''' I was watching ''him''. Franz Maddow. And he is a ... insurgent ... and he’s hoping to use these to cause chaos in the Core somewhere.<br>
'''Joshua:''' Hm. I see.<br>
'''Macadam:''' You seem like nice folks and you know, it’s easy to get caught up in the spirit of independence—<br>
'''Nika:''' (eyes blazing) She did '''''not''''' just say that to '''''me'''''.<br><br>

Joshua jumps quickly into action, pulling his Captain back from the edge. Nika brushes him off as Rina rejoins the crew, anonymizer in hand.<br><br>

'''Nika:''' ''She did '''not''' just say that '''to me'''''.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Where is Maddow?<br>
'''Joshua:''' (to Nika) Maddow—She meant it as—<br>
'''Kiera:''' Where is Maddow? <br>
'''Rina:''' Where is he? (to Joshua) Pay attention. She is going to think it. (points to Kiera) She just asked.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Where is Maddow?<br>
'''Macadam:''' He was arrested.<br>
'''Kiera:''' All right. Did he lead you to any of the other ones?<br>
'''Macadam:''' Ah, that was taken out of my hands. I’m just an observer.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Ah, ha.<br>
'''Nika:''' Do the rest of your townspeople know what you’re observing?<br>
'''Joshua:''' No, she wouldn’t—<br>
'''Macadam:''' No.<br>
'''Nika:''' ''They will now.''<br><br>

Joshua doesn’t like the sound of that. Nika’s just made it clear she’s going to throw the woman to the wolves.<br><br>

'''Macadam:''' (unfazed) That sounds fair.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Obviously that doesn’t scare her.<br>
'''Macadam:''' That is definitely a fair thing. You return me, you let me go and ...<br>
'''Kiera:''' Eek. Don’t throw me in that briar patch.<br>
'''Arden:''' (getting it) Oh no, don’t throw me in the briar patch.<br>
'''Nika:''' I didn’t say nothin’ about  lettin’ you go.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Yeah, I don’t think we need to send her back.<br>
'''Macadam:''' Well, you’re obviously not going to send me to my death, are you?<br><br>

Kiera laughs. Joshua snorts a chuckle. Nika just stares. <br><br>

'''Arden:''' You say that like it’s a bad thing.<br>
'''Macadam:''' But I didn’t kill anybody.<br>
'''Nika:''' You know the interesting part about that query?<br>
'''Kiera:''' What? She asked all of us and we’re gonna argue about it and...?<br>
'''Nika:''' (with pleasure) Oh ''no''. <br>
'''Kiera:''' Oh! You mean I might win this time and we’ll just kill her?<br>
'''Nika:''' Oh no. You see I have this ''thing''. I can do it in self-defense and that’s not a big deal. If she pulled a gun I’d have no issue.<br>
'''Kiera:''' If I give her my gun ... ?<br>
'''Nika:''' But from here I was going to take her out in the desert and drop her off about, oh, say about 62 miles out.<br>
'''Joshua:''' Whoa, whoa, whoa.<br> 
'''Rina:''' Would you land the ship first?<br><br>

Whoa, indeed.<br><br>

'''Macadam:''' Can I take some water?<br>
'''Kiera:''' What? Why’n’t you drink that makeup?<br>
'''Arden:''' No, but you can have this box of salty pretzels.<br>
'''Nika:''' No. (glares at Arden and Kiera)<br>
'''Kiera:''' All right. I’ll settle for the nicer, kinder way.<br>
'''Joshua:''' Wait, wait. What?<br>
'''Kiera:''' Droppin’ her off in the desert is much nicer than I’d planned.<br>
'''Nika:''' (sweetly) I have a nicer, kinder way.<br>
'''Kiera:''' See, droppin’ her in the desert’s kinder. I might give her some water though. She wouldn’t. (gestures to Rina) But I will. I’m warm now. <br>
'''Nika:''' Aren’t there drugs out there that can remove the last three days of your memory or something like that?<br><br>

Ohhh, clever! Macadam can’t rat us out if she can’t remember us. After all, what we need is her silence on the matter of us, not another corpse. Kiera groks it immediately and points to Macadam and Joshua in turn.<br><br>

'''Kiera:''' You know, she sold him hallucinagens. (to Joshua) Let’s use your hallucinagens.<br>
'''Arden:''' What are we talking about now? Aren’t we just killing her out of hand?<br>
'''Kiera:''' No.<br>
'''Nika:''' No.<br>
'''Arden:''' Leaving her in the desert with no way out—<br>
'''Nika:''' Actually I was just thinkin’ we drop her off, dosed with something that will make her forget the last day or two, and  ... let her go.<br>
'''Joshua:''' I don’t—do we have anything?<br><br>

Everyone looks at Arden.<br><br>

'''Arden:''' Do we have medications like that?<br>
'''Kiera:''' (scoffs) She has a whole hut full of them.<br>
'''Nika:''' She’s got a pharmacy out back.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Awesome. I love playing chemistry. I don’t know much about it but it’ll be kinduva shot in the dark to see what I can come up with.<br>
'''Nika:''' And in the meantime we need to contact or find a local network and make sure that they know who she is and what she’s done and that Maddow’s been picked up.<br>
'''Rina:''' Well, I think we should take the anonymizer off our comm equipment before we transmit.  (holds up anonymizer)<br>
'''Nika:''' Absolutely. All right. You two.<br><br>

She points to Kiera and Arden.<br>

'''Nika:''' You two take her back to the pharmacy. Dose her. Make sure she’s not going to remember the last two days.<br>
'''Arden:''' (attitude) Yes, Captain.<br>
'''Nika:''' (drawls) Make nice, Arden.<br>
'''Arden:''' I just disagree with what you’re doing, that’s all.<br>
'''Nika:''' You can disagree all you want.<br>
'''Arden:''' As long as I do it. I understand.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Well, how would you do it differently, Arden?<br>
'''Arden:''' I don’t have another way of doing it. I just don’t like what we’re coming up with.<br> 
'''Nika:''' I figure you got three choices. I can drop her off 62 miles out with no water. Or you can take her back to her pharmacy and wipe out her memory for the last two days, just leave her fine sleepin’.<br>
'''Arden:''' Can’t we just leave her the way she is?<br>
'''Nika:''' No.<br>
'''Arden:''' Why not?<br>
'''Nika:''' Because I ''dislike'' that option.<br><br>

Silence. Chill and deadly. Then:<br><br>

'''Rina:''' And just think. You’ve just discredited her as a spy. They’ll never make her work for them again.<br>
'''Nika:''' ''They'' might kill her, but that’s her problem. Not mine.<br>
'''Rina:''' Yep.<br>
'''Arden:''' (to Nika) Did they give you your badge at the last stop? You know, the one that says ‘tin-plated dictator’.<br>
'''Rina:''' No, but I’m the process of making her one. Nice and shiny.<br>
'''Arden:''' (to Nika) But you don’t have it yet.<br>
'''Nika:''' She’s already turned in a bunch of people. I don’t know what Maddow was doing out here, but I’m pretty sure he wasn’t out here alone. There’s a camp. They got ransacked. And who knows who else got killed along the way. (points to Macadam) She doesn’t even ''care'' what was goin’ on out here. She just turned them in. She didn’t even know what he was doin’. Didn’t bother to ask.<br>
'''Arden:''' Okay.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Just remember, people like us in the Core don’t give a rat’s ass over what happens to you guys. (stares at Macadam) ''Do we?''<br>
'''Macadam:''' I care about everyone in the Core.<br> 
'''Kiera:''' No. ''Out here''. In the Rim.<br><br>

The mood in the room, if possible, gets even more chill and deadly.<br><br>

'''Macadam:''' Everyone, everywhere. Hey, I’m a professional. I’m not reaming the Boarder. I’m not a monster. I’m just doing my job.<br>
'''Arden:''' (heavily) You’re just following orders.<br>
'''Macadam:''' How am I different from you? You’re doing the same thing I do.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Orders? (snorts!) Pfffftht! We don’t need no stinkin’ orders.<br>
'''Joshua:''' (to Macadam) I don’t disagree with you.<br>
'''Macadam:''' Looking at the cargo, you probably had to damage the ship—you obviously had a fight or something to get here.<br>
'''Joshua:''' If ''you'', the Alliance, caught an informer, what would up happening to him?<br>
'''Macadam:''' Ah ... prosecuted and jailed, probably.<br><br>

Off to the side, Rina starts to laugh bitterly. <br><br>

'''Joshua:''' So if you’re getting off with a—<br>
'''Macadam:''' It depends on the circumstances. Did somebody die because of it? Then they’d be accessories.<br>
'''Joshua:''' Yeah. I get it. <br>
'''Nika:''' So would you rather then I turn you over to Browncoat justice?<br>
'''Macadam:''' What’s that? <br>
'''Rina:''' Something you don’t ever want to see.<br>
'''Nika:''' Depends on who’s in charge of it.<br>
'''Rina:''' If it’s for me?<br><br> 

Her expression makes it clear what she expects of Alliance justice. It’s pretty ugly.<br><br>

'''Macadam:''' And that’s the flag you fly under? Justice you don’t ever want to see?<br>
'''Joshua:''' No. (to Nika) You don’t really know what it’s ...<br>
'''Macadam:''' Is that really what you are here for?<br>
'''Nika:''' I don’t know what it looks like in Red Sun.<br>
'''Joshua:''' The point is, is that you’re on the other side. And you were informing on our side.<br> 
'''Macadam:''' You understand, I don’t control—<br>
'''Nika:''' And now you’re going to turn around and inform on us. Frankly, I’m just tryin’ to protect my own. So let them take you home. Make sure you don’t really remember the last day or two when you’ve been talkin’ to us. That’s all I want out of you.<br>
'''Joshua:''' And that’s actually a much nicer option than getting jailed or ... fair enough ... gettin’ executed.<br>
'''Rina:''' (softly) Captain? Can I have a word with you alone? (off Nika’s look) One word. That’s all I ask.<br><br>

Silence. And Bradley Sims is watching all of this very intently on the side. He’s been here all along but wisely hasn’t moved or made a sound during the entire affair. Nika glances at her crew all around, then leaves with Rina to a spot out of earshot. Rina checks to see the coast is clear and then starts talking.<br><br>

'''Rina:''' She’s a Fed. And you weren’t in her shop. How do you know she didn’t make up the entire thing? If you take her back—<br>
'''Nika:''' I wasn’t in her shop. Kiera and Arden were. And it won’t matter.<br>
'''Rina:''' If they let slip the name of our ship—<br>
'''Nika:''' They don’t know the name of our ship.<br>
'''Rina:''' (grim) I would hope not.<br>
'''Nika:''' Nobody from town’s been out here, Rina.<br>
'''Rina:''' I just want to scan her shop. Make sure nothing’s there.<br>
'''Nika:''' The only thing I want out of this is for her not to be able to turn the rest of us in and get us jailed at the next place we land. That’s all I want. There’s no reason to kill her.<br>
'''Rina:''' I’m ''not'' asking to kill her. I’m asking to make sure that ''their'' conversation with her in the shop—''I understand that’s where they had one''—wasn’t ''recorded''. So whether she remembers it or not, if they pull the ''tapes?'' I’m trying to cover our tracks.<br>
'''Nika:''' Go back. See if there are tapes. <br>
'''Rina:''' Thank you.<br><br>

Cuz you know, Rina’s paranoid. But it doesn’t mean that a mole wouldn’t have back up in the form of surveillance cameras. And sure enough, when Rina goes back to run that scan on Macadam’s shop, there was surveillance in place and furthermore, Macadam possessed a Cortex box. Not that big a surprise. And given the sheer amount of stuff crammed into the shop, Macadam didn’t really have to do anything to hide the surveillance equipment or the box. It was just hidden very simply inside the cash register and in various bottles and globes hung here and there amongst the rest of the jumble. Pretty clever, actually. Rina finds the tapes and wipes those suckers into oblivion. Kiera watches with relish and then turns to Arden as the last tape spools out.<br><br>

'''Kiera:''' Now you and I get to play with pharmaceuticals!<br><br>

Nika had given Kiera orders before the search party left:<br><br>

'''''Nika:''' Your orders are very clear. You make sure she’s okay.''''' <br>
'''''Kiera:''' I am going to take care of her very well.''''' <br>
'''''Nika:''' You can give someone ketamine and make them forget the last 24 hours.'''''<br>
'''''Kiera:''' I’ll be nice to her and try not to hurt her.'''''<br><br>

She and Arden poke around and come up with a cocktail that will do what we need it to do and not harm Macadam as they run their course. Arden also takes what he can from Macadam’s stock to supplement our own medical stores. He, Kiera and Rina return to ''Equinox'' with the drugs and Nika has Arden and Kiera standing by after they inject the dose into Macadam—to check her vitals and make sure she won’t suffer a bad reaction before we drop her off in her shop.<br><br> 

'''Nika:''' Make sure she’s in her bed and that she’s safe. Set her Cortex box to send a message to the bar that if she doesn’t wake in 24 hours to send somebody to check on her. In the meantime, we need to get off the ground, cuz I don’t know where to take this cargo.<br><br>

And though we can do it, we resist telling the townsfolk in that message that Macadam is a spy. We don’t know if they were in on it or were completely duped by the woman. In the end, outing her as a spy isn’t part of our goal.<br><br>

While Kiera settles Macadam as ordered and takes Joshua’s pharmaceutical shopping list that he’s slipped her on the sly to fill when she gets there, Nika starts looking around as to what to do with our problematic cargo.<br><br>

'''Sims:''' Are you going to sell the cargo? Now that there’s nobody to pick it up.<br> 
'''Nika:''' I am unwilling to unless it’s somebody local.<br>
'''Kiera:''' Why not try and leave a message to Mr. Brion? Tell him Mr. Brion, summuvabitch  didn’t show up and he owes us money.<br>
'''Rina:''' Oh, hell yes.<br><br>

Nika is reluctant to just fly off with the cargo and then sell it to someone else. She doesn’t want to start off a run of this sort by dealing badly with the client. She decides to send a wave let him know that the cargo wasn’t picked up and we’re owed money. If Brion has a fall-back position where we can sell the cargo, just peachy. If not, he might still be able to point us toward an interested buyer. Thanks to Triumph’s smaller population, we cannot send the wave directly to Brion. We have to send the wave to Paquin and from there it will get routed to Beaumonde. As a result, the wait for Brion’s reply will be longer by more several days.<br><br> 

Nika flies ''Equinox'' to a spot closer to one of the bigger towns on Triumph to wait out the message delay. She puts us on the ground and we wait for his answer. Rina and Beglan use that time on the ground to make repairs. Arden uses that time to take apart one of the networking camera devices and learning what makes it tick. The others on the crew pass the time as best they’re able. Absent a client for the cargo we’re sitting on, there’s little else we can do.<br><br>
 




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Jump to:<br>
[[Episode 601: Triumph|Part 1]]<br>
[[Episode 601: Triumph, Part Two|Part 2]]<br>
[[Episode 601: Triumph, Part Three|Part 3]]<br>
[[Episode 601: Triumph, Special Features]]<br> <br> <br>

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