Arrival at Gemid

Characters: All
NPC: All
Location: Pack of Daggers belt
System: Gemid

1126.41.3 - 14:15 Imperial Time, 14:15 Vilani Time

Pack of Daggers exits jumpspace at the Gemid system coordinates given to them by Soks. A few minutes later, Soks hails.

"Good. You're here. Stay close. Things are a bit hectic. If you wander off, you'll likely incur the ire of one the Confederation navy's ships. I must warn you, they can be a bit twitchy."

Passive sensor data soon reveals three dozen Confederation vessels, all with their transponders on. Sizes range anywhere from 400 to 40,000 tons. There's probably double that number in merchant vessels coming and going. But there are other warships here, about a dozen, who aren't running with transponders. The bulk of these are corsairs, but there are other larger vessels. Some are definitely Vargr; others are Imperial design. None of them could take on the 40,000 ton heavy cruiser though.

And then evidence of Soks' warning comes to light: The distant wreckage of five ships, still smoldering with the remains of plasma burns, pass by the ventral side of the ship, small craft tugging the remnants away from travel lanes.

Gemid comes into view along with the multitude of orbiting habitats and stations.

world map of Gemid

Soks skips the crowded starport lanes and heads over to a far smaller station, a mere 20,000 tons in displacement.

Soks sends a text message: "Just popping in here to refuel while we wait for the others to join us. You should too. Don't worry. It's on me."

The station identifies itself as GSC-37. It's an old, but common, Gidguraakan class space station. The class was used as class C starports, but could be upgraded to class B with additional modules. This one is definitively a C. Ships dock alongside the outer hull where they are refueled and life support is refurbished. There are airlock extenders for both passengers and cargo. Unfortunately, cargo access is not possible with certain class starships, like the group's Ueknou corsair.

Having a port airlock and cargo door, Soks' ship must dock on the opposite side of the terminal arm than Pack of Daggers, which has starboard access.

Docking goes easily enough, the ship secured to the station with standard docking clamps.

Once both ships are docked, Soks calls. "Captain Gvarokh, as we have some time to kill while our ships refuel, why don't you join me at the passenger lounge. It isn't far from where we're docked. Drinks on me."

"Sure," Gvarokh replies. "I'll be there in 15."

After the call is terminated, he turns to Elloekothe. "Do you think this was meant as a one-on-one or group invite?"

"Definitely one-on-one. We didn't exactly mingle during his dinner party on Daama, so the crew don't have much of a scent to him."

Gvarokh nods. "In that case, it couldn't hurt if a handful of the crew just so happen to show up to get some drinks, too. They'll have to be a tasteful distance away, but still available if problems develop. Although I would suppose that the point would be to display enough confidence and trust to show up by myself."

"I'd take the latter. You could always leave your comm on. If something were to go awry, you could always drop a code phrase for us to drop by."

"I'll keep my comm on as much as I can, but don't be worried if it turns off. Only worry if I actively call for help. It wouldn't surprise me if I have to turn it off or it gets suppressed for some reason. It's only a problem if I call for help."

Vincent says, "May I suggest a code phrase or word that will indicate you want us on the way?"

Gvarokh replies with a smirk, "Honestly, if I need backup, the 'keyword' will likely be something like gunshots."

That gets chuckles from Kagfak and Uengghae.

More seriously, he continues, "How about 'plaid spaghetti'? If I am actually able to get word out before things go completely to shit that help is needed, I will somehow work 'plaid spaghetti' into the conversation.

"But, really, I am likely just being paranoid. We are still useful to him, even if only as someone he can eventually sell out, so I doubt he has anything immediately nefarious in mind. Just hope I don't fuck up the conversation."

Elloekothe replies, "I'm sure that you'll be fine. Just remember who you're dealing with."

Gvarokh nods. He makes his way to his quarters to don his tailored armor—combat armor being a tad bit overkill—and grab a sidearm. Afterwards, he makes his way to the airlock, where Elloekothe awaits.

"Above all else, project confidence, but be shrewd about it. A wolf that talks up a great hunt, likely hasn't the nose to track a zorrg." "Right!" With that, Gvarokh heads out through the airlock.

Waiting for the Captain

Characters: Slade, Vincent, Lakir, Simrii, Dougok
NPC: Chuck, Vlad, Kagfak, Uengghae, Elloekothe, Dr. Arsashaammu
Location: Pack of Daggers, docked at GSC-37 Space Station
System: Gemid

1126.41.3 - 16:30 Imperial Time, 16:30 Vilani Time

While the engineers are overseeing the refueling and life support refurbishment, the idle are monitoring Gvarokh's movements. Overlaying his comm signal with the schematics of the station, they watch him as he departs the ship and enters a passenger terminal. He walks to the far side and enters a central corridor. After a short pause he ascends the stairs to the next level. He enters the passenger lounge directly above the passenger terminal, and his signal disappears.

Vincent leaves engineering, saying, "I'm going to head over there and check on him."

Dougok stands to go.

Elloekothe replies, "Negative. This is supposed to be a one-on-one meeting. And Gvarokh said that he expected this to happen. Signal dampening fields are common in places where smugglers hang out." She pauses. "He just got there. You have to give him more time."

Dougok growls. "True. Best to let him chew this himself."

Vincent exhales. "If you say so, then I'll stay, but I'd would have liked to put a tail on cap. I get the importance of keeping it one on one but having someone in the vicinity just to provide backup doesn't mean we have to make contact with the cap or interrupt the meeting or even be noticed.

Elloekothe replies, "I understand, but as we all discussed before he left, he needs to show confidence."

Vincent counters, "I'm sure one could grab a drink in the lounge without drawing attention to oneself."

"I doubt it. Soks is going to have eyes everywhere. Except for the people who do this for a living, his wolves will know who sticks out. However, the captain did say that it wouldn't seem conspicuous if crew started showing up after they finished their assignments. So in a little while..."

Half an hour later, Dougok texts Vincent. "So do you want to go for a stroll? I'm thirsty and don't want to leave our pack leader without wolves nearby."

Vincent texts back. "I could use a drink. Why don't we go grab one?"

Dougok puts on his cloth armor, throws some clothes on over it, and grabs his six-round snub pistol. He then walks out of his quarters, heads down the stairwell, and exits the ship through the airlock. He proceeds through the access corridor into the station. He finds himself in an empty passenger terminal. Vincent isn't here yet, so he waits.

Meanwhile, Vincent slips out of engineering without Slade noticing. He returns to his stateroom where he dons his cloth armor and throws some casual clothes over them. He then leaves his room, heads down the stairs to the airlock, and exits the ship. He sees Dougok in an otherwise empty passenger terminal.

"Ready?"

"Oh yeah, I am."

Looking around the terminal, they spot the VIP area, marked "closed", on their right. To their left are eight rows of seats, facing each other in pairs. Large observation windows look out on Pack of Daggers. Across the concourse is a ticketing desk, also marked closed.

On the far wall to either side of the ticketing desk are doorways leading to central corridor with stairs and lifts. Looking left and right, the pair see a slight amount of activity. To the right, a pair of humans are in deep discussion about something one of them saw on a news feed. To the left lies the central hub where a low level buzz of activity emanates. The doors to the passenger terminal on the far side of the corridor are closed with "private" listed in LEDs on the doors.

The pair take the stairs up and immediately notice the entrance to the passenger lounge immediately above the passenger terminal their ship docked at. The doors are open, so they walk inside. The place looks well maintained, and there's an undercurrent scent of a meadow in the air. On the far side of the space is a sunken dining area which looks out on the dorsal half of Pack of Daggers. No one is seated there. To the left are bathrooms. To the right is a rectangular bar surrounded by a perimeter wall of faux wood and plants. Small tables line this perimeter wall, and the bar has sixteen stools.

Inside the bar area is a human bartender. Soks and Gvarokh are the only ones sitting at the bar. A pair of vargr males sit at a table in the corner furthest from Soks. A pair of human males sit in the corner closest to Soks. Both seated pairs seem to be absorbed in their own conversation.

Soks looks up first, smiles, and says something to Gvarokh. Gvarokh looks over to where Dougok and Vincent are standing and rolls his eyes. He follows up with a disapproving, glaring look.

At the Lounge with Soks

Character: Gvarokh
NPC: Soks
Location: GSC-37 Space Station
System: Gemid

1126.41.3 - 16:30 Imperial Time, 16:30 Vilani Time

Gvarokh departs the ship. As soon as he enters the station, he sniffs the air. Surprisingly, it doesn't smell as old or stale as he expected. Once outside the airlock he looks around. He's at a passenger terminal. The VIP area, marked "closed", is on his right. To his left are eight rows of seats, facing each other in pairs. Large observation windows look out on Pack of Daggers. Across the concourse is a ticketing desk, also marked closed.

On the far wall to either side of the ticketing desk are doorways leading to central corridor with stairs and lifts. Looking left and right, Gvarokh sees a slight amount of activity. To the right, a pair of humans are in deep discussion about something on a cargo manifest. To the left lies the central hub where a low level buzz of activity emanates. The doors to the passenger terminal on the far side of the corridor are closed with "private" listed in LEDs on the doors.

Gvarokh takes the stairs up and immediately notices the entrance to a passenger lounge immediately above the passenger terminal his ship docked at. The doors are open, so Gvarokh walks inside. The place looks well maintained, and there's an undercurrent scent of a meadow in the air. On the far side of the space is a sunken dining area which looks out on the dorsal half of Pack of Daggers. No one is seated there. To the left are bathrooms. To the right is a rectangular bar surrounded by a perimeter wall of faux wood and plants. Small tables line this perimeter wall, and the bar has sixteen stools.

Inside the bar area is a human bartender. Soks is the only sitting at the bar. A pair of vargr males sit at a table in the corner furthest from Soks. A pair of human males sit in the corner closest to Soks. Both pairs seem to be absorbed in their own conversation. None of them pay Gvarokh any mind when he strolls into the bar area.

Soks spots Gvarokh and waves him over. Gvarokh sits next to him.

Soks says, "Here he is. Two glasses of uekhfarsal please, Lem."

Lem, who is apparently the bartender, pours two generous shots of uekhfarsal into two highball glasses.

Soks raises his glass for a toast. "To you, Captain, for retrieving my friend."

This isn't the first time that Soks has thanked him, but Gvarokh clinks his glass anyway and sips his drink. Soks drinks about a third of his.

"Is there anything else you want?" Soks has a bowl nearby. Judging by the scent, there's some sort of berry liqueur in there.

Not wishing to wimp out, nor be impaired or drugged, Gvarokh opts for something he can sip.

"Khaelgon on the rocks, if you've got it."

"A wolf with taste," Soks says approvingly and raises his uekhfarsal glass.

Lem leaves the pair alone and walks to the far side of the bar to clean glassware and check inventory.

"It's a shame that you didn't have more time at the dinner party to socialize with Dhoknan and Khigiikuli. I would've liked it if the three of you could've built the foundation for an allegiance. With Dhoknan in Lishun, Khigiikuli here in Vland, and you in Corridor or Deneb, it would've made for an impressive coalition."

Gvarokh replies, "Eh, there's still time after this. But, I doubt either of them are happy with me right now after looking like I upstaged them."

Soks chuckles. "They had their assigned tasks. It's not your fault if you performed yours better than they performed theirs. If you're going to boast that you have the sharpest teeth, you better know how to bite."

Gvarokh outwardly smiles at the comment and lets it otherwise pass. He makes a note to himself that this raid could have been a test for the other two as much as himself. Something he hadn't really considered before now.

Lem returns with a highball glass of khaelgon on ice.

"A bowl of water, too, when you get the chance, please."

Lem nods, turns around, fills a bowl with water and sets it down in front of Gvarokh, and then goes to check on the patrons at the tables.

Gvarokh sniffs the bowl first before lapping up some water. He then turns his attention back to his khaelgon. His nose tells him, Smoky whiskey with cinnamon and akra bark, sweetened with aghvaez cactus juice. Check.

"So, did you get anything useful out of the raid data?"

"Yes, thank you for that. It would seem that the vilani have been sniffing around Daama for some time. My wolves are still trying to figure out if they got anything that they can act on. I tell my friends in the Confederation that someday the vilani will strike, but they dismiss it. 'The vilani don't have the teeth to try anything,' they say. But if you bring up Ikhog and how one puny ship knocked out the Touzagh base and embarrassed their leader, they dismiss that, too. 'Stupid pinky trying to run a corsair pack. Doomed to fail.' Ignoring years of success that pinky had running one of the most ruthless corsair packs in modern times.

"Maybe now they'll listen."

Gvarokh nods his head in agreement. The attack on Ikhog was 31 weeks ago, far back enough that news of it has certainly reached the rest of the sector.

There's a pause in the conversation. Soks finishes off his uekhfarsal. He sets the empty glass down with a measure of satisfaction. He clears his throat and says, "Egz told me what happened on the trip to Daama."

Gvarokh simply says, "I never asked him not to." Then he takes a sip.

Soks nods. "I'll take that to mean you don't refute anything that he said."

Gvarokh says, "Well, having no idea what he said makes that a hard question to answer. But, probably not."

So Soks relates what Egz told him, and the events match what happened, but not the intent.

Gvarokh replies. "That's what happened. Although I wouldn't classify sexual assault as an 'amorous advance where he assumed consent.' Her clothes were torn, and she had scratches and bite marks. As for 'the jealous lover,' that was strictly the case of one crewman coming to the aid of another at the claws of a predator. The bonds in my pack are tight. An attack on one is an attack on them all."

"I see. So is it safe to assume this crewman wasn't disciplined for his behavior?"

"No, he was not disciplined, nor will he be."

"Do I need to worry about any further actions by this crewman towards Egz?"

"No, it will not be an issue. While they won't be friends, he knows to keep the bigger picture in mind."

"Well, at least there's that."

There's a pause in the conversation.

Soks resumes. "I have to say that I'm a bit surprised. I would've thought that such a valuable passenger would've been treated as such."

Gvarokh isn't taking any of it. "I value my crew above all else. I would not have made it as far as I have were it not for them. For the record—and by Egz's own admission—I did stop things and even made sure that Egz was patched up in time for his reunion with you. As for being 'unceremoniously dumped into the freezer', it was for his own protection. I don't know that the doctor would've been able to treat the wolf that attacked her."

"You could've ordered her."

"And what would've stopped her from injecting him with a virus from her stockpile of bioweapons? Maybe something with a one-week incubation period? You, Egz, and your crew would all be dead or dying before emerging from jump. And I would be none the wiser."

Gvarokh finishes off his uekhfarsal and audibly sets the glass down on the bar. It's a bluff. He doesn't know if Irma has anything of the sort at her disposal, or if she'd even do it, but Soks doesn't know that.

Soks pauses, his expression indicating that he may in fact be contemplating that possibility. Finally, he says, "I see."

He pauses some more. "So tell me, Captain, should the Gemidians decide to sell you their bioweapon, how do you plan on using it?"

Before Gvarokh can reply, Soks says, "Oh look. Two of your crewmen have arrived. Vincent and Dougok, I believe."

Gvarokh stops and verbalizes a "Whaa...?" as he pops his head around to see what Soks is referring to. Once he sees the guys, he rolls his eyes and gives a disapproving, glaring look.

The pair exchange a few words. Vincent heads to a table near the window while Dougok approaches the bar, his tail wagging. He dips his head slightly to the captain.

Not wanting to make a scene in front of Soks, he glares at Dougok for a moment, then tries to establish eye contact with Vincent.

Dougok then turns to catch the attention of Lem the bartender. Once he comes over, Dougok says, "Two beers, dark. Also a menu."

"Menus are at the tables," Lem politely replies. I'll bring your beer over."

"Thanks!" Dougok replies, then heads over to join Vincent at the table.

Meanwhile, Gvarokh has established eye contact with Vincent and shakes his head. He then turns back to face Soks and says, "Well that derailed my line of thought."

Soks is smiling. "Obviously your crew care about you enough to check up on you. I think it's cute that they think they're being subtle about it."

Gvarokh doesn't reply. Instead, he takes a drink.

"To get your line of thought back on the rails, I asked you how you were planning on using the bioweapon, assuming the Gemidians sell it to you of course."

Gvarokh's voice hardens, and he answers, "I have a score to settle." He takes another drink, then brightens up a bit, continuing, "Which will then be to the benefit of our new friends."

"I see. A bit of revenge." He pauses, then asks, "Won't they be expecting you?"

"No. They think we're dead."

"Yes, that should help. But I must say that there isn't a lot of profit in personal vendettas."

"There is in this case. And I will have more than enough wealth to share with my new friends when my fortunes are reversed."

Soks raises his glass in a toast. "To the reversal of fortunes!"

They clink glasses and finish off the khaelgon.

"Another round?"

"No thanks." Gvarokh checks his chronometer. "Refueling should be done. We'll need to be on our way to the surface, right?" He stands to leave.

"Not yet. Our meeting isn't scheduled for another fourteen hours. Best I could get having just arrived in-system."

Gvarokh says, "Oh. In that case, why not?" and he sits back down. He orders another uekhfarsal and says, "If you don't mind, may I ask you a pointed question?"

Soks sniffs the air. "No, go ahead."

Once the drinks arrive and the bartender resumes his duties elsewhere, Gvarokh says, "You are obviously an extremely careful operator with a long track record of success. From what I understand, you have amazing contacts, even well outside anything I am even remotely able to guess. Such operators, in my experience, usually like to stay way behind the scenes and not get out front of anything. They like the exercise of power without needing the recognition. Your forming this force seems more overt that I would have expected from such an operator. Why are you starting to step out front?"

Soks takes a drink and sets his glass back down. "Oh I'm not stepping out front. You are quite correct that I prefer to be the wolf behind the scenes, and that hasn't changed. This 'force' that has been assembled is merely me herding three potential clients together for the Gemidians to meet with. Their time is valuable. I don't want to waste it."

"Maybe 'coalition' was too strong a word to use. Too 'overt', as you put it."

"Each of you has already done something for me, which I consider to be a down payment towards the cost of this buying opportunity. Each will present his case, and each will do with his purchase as he sees fit. Success means we get to keep doing business together."

"And failure?"

"Failure just means we'll have to make other arrangements, rein in our expectations. But I'd rather not waste time thinking about that. Too negative. One must have a positive attitude. If the hunter expects to fail, the hunt is over before it has begun.

"But should you all prove to be successful, a certain amount of behind-the-scenes coordination would keep each of you out of each other's fur. That would be a service that I would gladly provide."

Gvarokh tops off both of their glasses and offers a "cheers", declaring, "To success!"

"To Success!"

The two make idle chit chat for a while longer, primarily about this space station and aspects of Gemid culture. Gvarokh notes that Vincent and Dougok have received their food and are happily eating it.

After an hour has nearly gone by, Gvarokh feels that he's hit his safety limit. He thanks Soks for the drinks and stands to go.

"Thank you for the conversation."



Next: Watching the Captain in the Lounge