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--- game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:adventure_journal [2026/08/16 15:31] – [Arrival] Bryan Stephens
+++ game_systems:traveller:insearchoftheancients:adventure_journal [2026/08/22 13:32] (current) – [“The entire battle lasted only a few minutes.”] Bryan Stephens
@@ Line 2470: / Line 2470: @@
 Vlen Backett is dead.
+===== 18 Body Snatchers=====
+|Game Date|8/13/26, 8/20/26|
+|Campaign Dates| 1101-295-XXX|
+==== Inspector Norrim ====
+The group heads to the Public Order Commission (POC) office in Credo. The Credo Public Order Office; it is a colossal building, made out of black synthstone. Vincent knows it is a perfect copy of the Imperial Ministry of Justice headquarters on Capitol. There are always huge crowds outside the POC Office, thanks to the Reginan custom of Assumption of Custody. Normally, the group would have to queue behind angry citizens, offworlders demanding compensation for wrongful arrest or people trying to cope with the choking bureaucracy of Regina. However, in this case, they have an official summons and they don’t even have to present it. As soon as they approach they are welcomed in and directed to the office of Inspector Pallod Norrim.
+The group is shown into a blandly functional office , with a large holoportrait of Duke Norris on the wall – and sits down behind his desk. The hardwood desk is an imposing antique and must have cost a small fortune to ship into orbit. The inspector activates a privacy seal as he addresses them.
+Norrim is portly but light on his feet, the mark of a man who has spent many years in the slightly lower gravity of a space station. He is dressed in a POC uniform, a green militaristic outfit with crystal-blue epaulets and a blue cap; hanging at his side is a personal computer, which he hardly ever uses. He speaks slowly and deliberately, enunciating every word of his Galanglic to ensure offworlders can follow his accent. He is the chief representative of the POC at the highport, so his job exists in the tangled grey area between Imperial and planetary law.
+//“It is the belief of the Public Order Commission that Vlen Backett was murdered. The circumstances of his death certainly suggest foul play; Backett was found in the Traveller’s Aid Hostel in Startown. He had been shot with a low-calibre projectile weapon – presumably a silenced one, as no-one heard anything. He was taken to the Tan Shalve Medical Centre, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.”//
+//”No weapon was found at the hostel and the room was sprayed with an aerosol chemical solvent that destroys most forms of forensic evidence. The case is under investigation, of course, but such things take time.”// Norrim pauses and taps at his personal computer for a few seconds, bringing up a document on screen.
+//“According to the physician, tests on the blood of Vlen Backett showed a high level of Tusal, an illegal narcotic. Traces of the drug were also found on Backett’s clothing and in his luggage. His belongings were scattered across the hostel room, implying a hasty search”.//
+// “If you have any information pertinent to this case, now would be the time to volunteer it.”//
+Maria is unimpressed with this apparatchik. And as she is fully back in working mode, she scans his surface thoughts.
+Pallod Norrim privately thinks of himself as a beekeeper. The offworlders swarm around him, buzzing and flitting back and forth in what seems like chaos, however really they are following very simple rules as they search for what they need and defend against threats to their hives. He must wear protective garments – the strict application of Regina law – to defend against their stings but as long as he takes basic precautions, the bees are essentially harmless. He has dealt with tens of thousands of cases over his long career and no matter how strange the circumstances are (aliens and off worlders seem to delight in bringing in added complications to quite simple cases), he has found that they almost always boil down to one of a handful of problems. Someone lied, someone got drunk, someone quarreled with someone else. Just let the bees buzz until they have exhausted themselves, then sweep them up and fix the problem.
+Then, in Pallod’s private classification system, there are the wasps. Wasps look like bees at first glance but they are more aggressive and keep stinging. He suspects Vlen Backett’s case might be a wasp; more complex and more damaging than a simple murder enquiry. Therefore, he intends to swat the case as soon as possible.
+//Great. So what does he know?//
+Meanwhile Vincent is in full obsequiousness mode. He is a master of speaking a lot and saying nothing. He answers any questions that Vincet poses very reluctantly. But what the inspector knows about the case is top of his mind.
+  *Backett was an infrequent visitor to the hostel; he would show up every few years, stay for anything from a few days to several months and then vanish again. • He arrived three days before his death.
+  *On the night of the shooting, Backett returned to the hostel with three other men. TAS members are allowed to receive visitors at the hostel, so long as they vouch for their guests. All three provided identity cards; the POC have since confirmed that all three cards were forgeries.
+Backett seemed nervous but not intoxicated or especially worried.
+  *Poor-quality security camera footage of the three is available. Two of the figures are clearly visible; they are big, dangerous-looking thugs. The third visitor was standing behind the other two and no details can be made out, other than his reddish hair.
+  *They ordered drinks to be brought to the room.
+  *Two of the visitors remained in the corridor outside, as if on guard. After an hour, one of them left the hostel and returned 45 minutes later.
+  *Two hours later, the three visitors left in a hurry. Before they left, one of the visitors called the front desk and reported a spillage in Backett’s room. When the cleaning robot arrived, it discovered Backett’s corpse and raised the alarm.
+  *Around the same time, there was an unexplained power surge that knocked out computer and surveillance systems in the area. The origin of this surge has yet to be discovered.
+Marie shares all of this with her friends via a mental link. Having the psi-crystals to store energy is a luxury she could really get used too.
+Norrim suspects that Vlen Backett was a drug smuggler and that he was killed when some deal went wrong. Vincent is clear they obviously have no idea about Vlen’s recent movements. Once the inspector is convinced that they have nothing useful to tell him, he sighs.
+//”You can collect Backett’s corpse and belongings from the morgue here. There is a travel bond in Backett’s name for the sum of Cr100000; more than enough to take the body home to Allel.”//
+==== The Body and the Site of the Crime ====
+Normally, the bureaucratic nightmare would have taken them hours to get to the body. A mix of charm and influence from Vincent meant it took them minutes. Dr. Bastan Dasren leads them to the cryotube where Vlen’s body is held. The report and the body line up under Lucas’s review.
+The forensic report shows that Vlen Backett was killed by a gunshot from close range, probably a
+low-velocity snub pistol.
+Blood tests show a high level of Tusal in Backett’s bloodstream; at that level, he would barely have been able to stand, let alone fight back
+The shot itself is very clean. Just took out the heart. Did not even exit out the back.
+No one understands it.
+Why not a head shot? A heart shot is hard to set up.
+Why summon a robot to uncover the crime?
+Something is wrong. And all four don’t like it.
+They have the body taken to the //Providence// on a Weiss transport.
+//”I want to put that body into our autodoc.”// David said, meaning one of the two Ancient technology autodocs. Everyone knew what he meant.
+//”Let’s do that when we are all there,”// Lucas noted. Right now we have to work on things moonside.
+They go to the old TAS hostel. Normally, a TAS hostel is well kept and nice. Here, though, things are different. This is the oldest TAS site on Regina. There are so many visitors to Regina that the Traveller’s Aid Society operates several hostels. The largest and most prestigious is on the highport station but there are four more hostels located in other cities on the surface. Most of the Regina hostels are exceedingly well-equipped and comfortable, on par with high quality hotels. The one exception is the Regina Down TAS Hostel. Technically within Credo city limits, this hostel is really part of Startown. It is hundreds of years old and looks it – the building’s exterior is shabby, the concierge computer outdated and forgetful. This is kept open for purposes of nostalgia.
+It is in a bad part of town and TAS membership is needed to get into the lobby. Maria vouches for Vincent. Inside they meet Joren Vask the Receptionist. He is a run down and tired looking man who is more than willing to accept a bribe from Vincent to let them look at the room where Vlen died.
+The room has no real answers.
+Leaving, Vincent asks around the streets and finds a lot of tusal was sold by a man called Darrian Jak. This lead does not help. Nothing is adding up.
+But while he is apart from the others, Vinent is approached by an odd man.
+//”Don’t look over.”//
+There is a man leaning against the wall nearby. He has got a hat drawn down over his eyes and he is facing away from Vincent, talking into his hand-held comm – but he can see that the comm unit is turned off.”//
+ //”I know who killed Vlen Backett. I can help you find him. There is a bar down in Startown, the Flotsam. Meet me there at 10pm. Make sure you are not followed.”//
+//”I’ll be there”// Vinent nods. Delightful! Intrigue and a chase.
+As Vincent rejoins the group he has notices that they are being followed.
+//”Has anyone noticed the men following us?”
+David and Lucas both say //”Yes”//
+Maria give detailed descriptions of them.
+//”They have been with us all day. I have not scanned them yet”//
+That earns raised eyebrows from Vincent.
+//”It’s a TL 15 world. You never know when they have psi-detectors”//
+Vincent tells them he has a meeting and the group decides on a plan. David and Lucas will go to a a bar adjacent to Flotsam. Maria will change her appearance and head to Flotsam early. David and Lucas will watch the tails.
+Things go smoothly. Their tails linger outside of the two bars across the street. Lucas sees the strange man come down from a nearby building and go into Flotsam a bit after Vincent has.
+The Flotsam is a run-down spacer’s bar in the shadow of the downport; it smells of spilled beer and that curious metallic tang that clings to people who have spent months in recycled atmospheres.
+After he comes in, the strange man shuffles over to Vincent’s  table, shooting glances over his shoulder. His eyes dart around the room, as if marking the exits. He grabs a chair and moves it over to one side, so he can sit with his back to the wall.
+//”The name’s Odoy. Detective First Class. I’m armed, by the way, don’t make any sudden moves.”//
+He grins suddenly, as if his face just spasmed.
+//”Have you ever heard of a man called Ven Yasha? He’s got his finger in every cargo that comes through Regina. I’ve been trying to find a way into his organization for years, looking for him to slip up. He’s bribed half the Commission and he’s got spies everywhere. I think he killed Vlen Backett, or ordered his death anyway. I don’t know what Backett was up to – maybe he was one of Yasha’s couriers, or something, but he was involved. I’m not on the case – and isn’t that interesting, no ulterior motives there I’m sure – and you can’t rely on the rest of the POC. They couldn’t find Assiniboia at midnight.”//
+Maria scans the man from across the bar. She is only a little troubled about how easy it is to fall back into this mode. She had lied to herself that she had changed. She was passed this sort of thing.
+She clearly is not.
+Odoy is unstable and jittery; his skin is pock-marked, a side effect of the mood stabilizer drugs he takes to stay functional. He is extremely paranoid and nervous, and takes absurd precautions against being overheard. His condition has deteriorated in the last year, his delusions growing worse. He is an embarrassment to the Public Order Commission and has been placed on leave while the legal machinery is put in place to force his retirement.
+He believes this. He is paranoid.
+And Ven Yasha is real.
+//”Drugs? You think Ven Yasha is dealing drugs? You have no idea of the scale this guy operates on, none whatsoever. The only drug he deals in is power. Yasha’s interested in politics and technology, not getting high.”//
+He takes a swig of his drink.
+“//Damn bureaucrats! They’ve got me on medical leave. Psychologically unstable. Paranoid. Mood swings. Delusions of persecution and conspiracy. Violent tendencies. Lying bastards.”//
+He slides an actual piece of paper to Vincent It has a comm number on it.
+//”Get a burner.”//
+Then he leaves without paying for his drink.
+On the way out, the tails follow the three men. Maria again reads their minds.
+Hargid Voss
+Stej Lanner
+Imperial Intelligence.
+They work for Gand Holcess
+Their orders are to watch the Lucas vin dr Volk and his companions and not to interfere unless absolutely necessary.
+Maria’s loathing catches her off-guard. These are men. Patriots doing their jobs. Like David in the navy.
+Too many encounters. People dead because they did not understand what they were dealing with.
+As Maria walked to join the men to take the aircar back to the Weiss estate, small changes happened between the panopticon of cameras. Her hair slide from brown back to its brilliant white. Her eyes shifted. By the time Maria reached the car, she was herself. And Lanner and Voss had to watch them fly to a secure spot they could not be watched from.
+==== Professor Ujinka ====
+Lucas awakes to his AI telling him about the rumors that have reached Regina:
+Rumors from Steel
+===“The Wandering Providence can cloak.”===
+Several people at the Steel Cooperative swear the ship simply vanished from every sensor at once. The respectable version is that it has a military-grade stealth system nobody has seen before; the less respectable version says it can turn completely invisible.
+===“They destroyed a Sword World squadron.”===
+The story has already grown in transmission. Four pirate vessels at Steel have become “a Sword World raiding squadron,” and some versions claim there were six or eight ships. The Providence supposedly destroyed half of them before the others surrendered.
+===“Vin der Volk hacked their ships remotely.”===
+This is especially popular in academic circles. According to the story, Lucas penetrated the pirate command network during the battle and shut down their weapons, drives, or fire-control systems one vessel at a time. Some people point to the oddly abrupt surrender as proof.
+===“The pirates fired first and never landed a meaningful hit.”===
+This one is nearly true. The Providence was hit, but its hull shrugged off the attacks and its point-defense systems destroyed incoming missile salvos. The rumor has simplified this into, “They fought four ships and came out without a scratch.”
+===“One salvo blew a 200-ton warship apart.”===Witnesses insist the Providence launched six missiles and Fafnir simply ceased to exist. This is the rumor naval officers and weapons specialists find hardest to dismiss because it matches what debris analysis at Steel would suggest.
+===“Their targeting systems are impossible.”===
+Every pirate vessel reportedly tried to break the Providence’s targeting locks and failed. One version claims the ship tracked every hostile vessel simultaneously through the atmosphere of a gas giant.
+===“They changed their transponder in the middle of the fight just to tell the pirates who was killing them.”===
+This has become one of the most repeated stories because it is dramatic and, inconveniently, essentially true. The ship entered the system as Far Horizon and deliberately switched back to Wandering Providence once the ambush began.
+===“David Swift made the entire pirate force surrender over an open channel.”===
+The popular version has David calmly identifying himself and ordering the enemy squadron to stand down... after which they did. Nobody can agree on why hardened pirates obeyed him.
+===“The Wandering Providence has particle weapons.”===
+There are scattered reports of an unusual beam striking the command ship after the missile boat was destroyed. Some claim it was a particle accelerator; others insist no ship that size could possibly carry one.
+===“The Steel pirates had hostages and the Providence rescued the station without killing them.”===
+The basic rescue is known, but the details are confused. Some say a boarding team infiltrated the platform under cloak. Others claim the crew bribed someone inside. One especially popular version says they deployed a previously unknown stealth commando unit.
+===“The entire battle lasted only a few minutes.”===
+This may be the part spacers find most unnerving. The pirates had positional advantage and numerical superiority; shortly afterward one ship was destroyed, another crippled, and the rest had surrendered.
+===“The crew edited the evidence before handing the pirates over.”===This is conspiracy-board material, but it is circulating. People note that the surviving sensor records are frustratingly incomplete and conclude that vin der Volk or someone aboard the Providence deliberately sanitized the data.
+Lucas just howls with glee.
+Before they leave they hear from the Inspecter. Apparently the case has been solved. Chief Inspector Norrim has important news – a standard Assumption of Custody sweep has identified Backett’s killer. The inspector explains that they used the security footage from the TAS Hostel to create a profile of the likely murderer – short, red-haired, involved in the tusal trade, and potentially violent. The Public Order Commission pulled in a score of suspects and questioned them all, and one of them is going to be charged with the crime. The accused killer is a small-time tusal smuggler and thug called Darrian Jak; he is not actually a Darrian but has elfin features reminiscent of that race. He denies murdering anyone in the TAS Hostel but the POC can tie him to half-a-dozen other violent incidents and he has no alibi for that night.
+None of them believe this for a moment. This is getting the case solved. Vincent notes,
+//”This is about the truth. I don’t doubt this man should be punished for his crimes, but killing Uncle Vlen is not one of them”//. They head for their appointment.
+Professor Ujinka has a large home in the countryside outside Credo City, in the region called Dancado. Technically, Dancado is the private property of the Duke of Regina but a few respected families are permitted to lease land in the estate and live there. The house has been in Ujinka’s family for generations.
+As the Dancado region is part of the Duke’ s private domain, grav cars and other flyers are restricted to a limited number of flight paths. The standard mode of travel is by charmingly old-fashioned ground car or even by riding. Vincent hires a ground car in Credo City; once they are out of the press of the multilevel city, the drive is a pleasant one, winding its way through the forests of Dancado. The trees here have adapted to their environment; each has two sets of leaves. One set is for absorbing sunlight from Regina’s primary star, the other set of grey fronds is for feeding on reflected light from Assiniboia. This is unsettling for non-natives, as the trees squirm sometimes to pick up more of the wan light from the gas giant.
+Vincent finds he has missed it.
+They all see the ground car following them.
+Ujinka’s home is surrounded by a high fence enclosing several square kilometers of garden. When the four drive up to the gate, they are scanned by an automated security system that confirms their identity. They cannot help but notice the presence of armed drones lurking in the trees; such weapon systems are illegal on Regina without extensive special permits and are certainly an impressive amount of firepower for a private residence.
+A robot servant opens the door.
+“//Professor Ujinka will be with you momentarily. Please follow me to the lounge. Please mind your step.”//
+It is not possible for a robot butler to sniff snootily but this one makes a good attempt. The hallway beyond is packed with shipping crates and boxes; it is like a small freighter dumped its cargo on the mansion. They are led into a large room, one where the whole east wall is transparent, overlooking a lake. On the wall are holos of planets the professor has visited. She has been all over the Marches.
+The Professor greets them all warmly. It is clear she has followed the growing legend of the crew of the //Wandering Providence//.
+The Professor  is at least 100 standard years old but moves with the energetic hyperactivity of someone who has just undergone a course of anagathics. She seizes the hand of Vincent and squeezes it with her callused hands.
+//”My sincere condolences. Vlen was a remarkable fellow, truly remarkable. Please, sit down. Can I have the machine get you something?”//
+After refreshments and hearing about their, edited, adventures she talks about her work.
+//”Finding Ancients sites has traditionally been a rather hit-or-miss affair. Either the site is so large that it is obvious from orbit, or so well hidden that they are discovered only by chance. All of the surviving intact sites are virtually impossible to detect using conventional sensors – there are no electromagnetic emissions, no thermal signatures, no gravimetric traces. They’re effectively invisible.//
+“//Some years ago, I obtained a spacer’s diary, where he described an anomalous disturbance in the G-band of his ship’s communications system when they were in orbit of Yori – and there’s an Ancients site on Yori. I looked into the matter and there are a handful of other cases where other vessels reported similar G-band problems that all correlated with known Ancients sites. I believe that under certain conditions, a G-band signal can be distorted by some aspect of Ancients technology.//
+“//Now, it’s not as simple as just tuning your ship’s radio to the G-band. It’s only under certain conditions and I’m not sure what those are. I applied for funding but the university said my proposal lacked evidence. So, I went ahead anyway, of course.//
+//”There’s another dig on Beck’s World. My assistant Juni is there now and she’s working to isolate the G-band conditions. I contend that with funding and time, we will be able to develop a workable method for finding asyet-undiscovered Ancients sites. I mentioned this to Vlen... four years ago, I think. He said that he might be able to provide a ship and funding for the initial phase of experiments – in exchange for a share of the bounty on any sites found. Now, I’m not sure if you are in a position to keep to this arrangement but if you have access to a ship, then we can see about continuing the project.”// Ujinka claps her hands together enthusiastically.
+Ujinka’s energy is irrepressible. She is quit enthusiastic! Jumping from topic-to-topic, and interested in everything. Ujinka  appears unable to talk without using her hands, often gesturing  wildly. And she occasionally has to stop to catch her breath. She is still 100 years old, despite the life prolonging drugs.
+They talk with her about Ven Yasha.
+//” I only know him  by reputation. He’s a collector of Ancients artefacts. An unscrupulous one, too. I know he tried to bribe one of the university dig teams back in ‘77, when we first opened up Beck’s World. I understand he lives here on Regina but I wouldn’t deal with him. I’d love to find out exactly what’s in his collection, though. Foul man.”//
+As the conversation goes on, she stand again and wanders over to the window.
+//”The conference on Deneb really showed how little we understand about the Ancients. Do you know they found a site near the Solomani sphere that had –“//
+The lightglobes in the walls dim. The holoscreen on the wall goes dark. Outside, something falls into the lake with a splash.
+Every cybernetic device also dies. David thinks //I thought I had these hardened.//
+The room is not dark. Light floods in from the large window.
+The window that Professor Ujinka stand in front of. A perfect silhouette.
+=== Assassins ===
+|Game Date|8/13/26, 8/20/26|
+Marie moves first.
+She leaps up and takes Ujinka to the floor.
+Glass explodes over her head as a gauss shot cuts through where her head was a moment ago.
+David falls from the couch, feeling the shock of his cybernetic systems failing.
+Vincent stands and pulls his revolver.
+//”This will still work.”//
+Maria shouts //”Room without windows now!”//
+Lucas says, //”Down the hall on the left!”//
+As Maria carries the startled professor back, David recovers and stand. He hands his gauss pistol to Lucas.
+//”Can you reactivate it?”// Lucas shrugs and goes to work as they move.
+//”Vincent how good are you with that thing?”// Vincent looks at the gun in his hand and then back at David.
+//”Here”// is all he says handing it to David. Then he starts to work on his gauss gun as well. Unlike Lucas, it takes his far longer and while the others act, he struggles with the gun.
+As Maria gets the processor into the other room she tells her //”Lay on the floor. Keep down and here. We have this”//
+Professor Ujinka looks into the eyes of Maria. The calm, casual woman of moments before is gone. The eyes looking back at her are deep and cold.
+No fury. No fear.
+Just eyes of a mechanic looking to fix a problem.
+//I guess I really am back// Maria thinks as she pushes her mind out with //sense life//
+...and the world suddenly becomes crowded.
+Not visually. Not as shapes or faces. As life.
+Maria reaches outward with Sense Life...
+...and the world suddenly becomes crowded.
+Not visually. Not as shapes or faces. As life.
+Every living thing around Professor Ujinka’s home registers at once, layered by size, complexity, motion, and proximity. Maria does not have to search for anything. With an effect this strong, the entire area simply unfolds before her.
+The professor is there, a bright human presence nearby. The others around her are just as distinct.
+Beyond them, smaller lives are everywhere.
+Birds perch in trees and flit between branches. Insects move through grass, soil, and air in numbers too great to count individually, becoming an almost shimmering background of tiny living sparks. Small animals shelter beneath bushes and buildings. Something rodent-sized moves beneath the edge of the house. Fish drift beneath the water near the dock. Aquatic life clusters along the shoreline. A larger fish moves slowly through deeper water.
+And among all of it...
+two human beings are moving toward the property.
+One approaches the front door: Human. Adult. Walking deliberately. His movement is too direct to be someone simply passing nearby. Maria can follow him continuously as he closes on the house.
+The second is approaching from the water side, moving toward the boathouse: Another adult human. Separate from the first. Deliberate movement. He is not wandering the shoreline. He is coming in.
+Farther away, beyond anything Maria could normally see from the house, are two more human lives.
+They are stationary, sitting close together inside something that itself gives no life-sign at all. A vehicle. Maria cannot see the car, cannot make out who they are, and has no way to know that they are Imperial agents.But she knows they are there.
+Two people. Waiting at a distance. Watching from somewhere beyond the immediate property.
+Maria does not see weapons through Sense Life. She does not know their names, their intentions, or what they are thinking. But there is absolutely no chance they surprised her.
+Then, with a flick of thought, Maria passes what she senses to the others.
+Every morning, almost without thinking about it anymore, the crew establishes the telepathic link through their Ancient necklaces. Years ago, those strange artifacts were objects some of them regarded with suspicion. Now they are something no one takes off.
+Maria pushes the pattern through the link.
+For an instant, everyone experiences the world the way she does. The house. The professor. The living clutter of birds, insects, fish, and animals.
+Then Maria narrows it for her friends, stripping away everything irrelevant until what remains is something almost absurdly familiar...
+A psionic minimap, like something out of a video game.
+The house is the center point. Around it, living presences become simple contacts. Most fade into the background. Four remain highlighted.
+One approaching the front door. One moving toward the boathouse.
+And, farther away, two more stationary contacts sitting together beyond normal visual range.
+No faces. No names. No weapons. Just position, movement, and distance... updated continuously in all of their minds. And everyone linked to Maria knows exactly where the incoming threats are.
+The man coming from the boathouse stagers as a Maria strikes him with a telekinetic punch. She can feel he is wearing armor.
+The other man comes up the stairs and Daivd fired to slow his movement.
+The stunned man in the boathouse hears the shooting, but he has no idea what is going on. That is his last thought as Maria simply assaults his mind. In a scream of pain, the man drops. Blood starts to flow from his ears and nose.
+Lucas faces breaks into the feral grin that has been on his face more and more. He fires through the wall at the figure he can see in his mind. The gauss round slams into the man. David fires again.
+The man staggers, but his body armor has kept him standing.
+Maria strides out towards him psi-blade in hand. Glowing with the blue-white energy, the startled man stands there as this woman moves towards him. In this moment, Maria does not look human. She looks like a cold killing machine.
+Without passion her blade swings. The energized blade passes through armor, flesh, and bone.
+The man’s head is separated from his body.
+She watches him fall, apparently oblivious to the spray of blood.
+She turns to the others and says,
+//”That is all there is. I am going to probe the other one.”// Maria says flatly. Like it is a statement on where she will have lunch.
+The man left alive is Galus Labre. Maria knows everything about him.
+  * Worked for Ven Yasha irregularly for **15 years**, usually as a guard or legbreaker.
+    * He has **never met Ven Yasha directly**.
+    * Jobs always came through Ven Yasha’s aide, **Harlen**.
+  * Several weeks ago, Harlen contacted **Kinson and Labre**.
+    * They were ordered to keep an eye on a Traveller named **Backett**.
+    * Their job was to watch over him and make sure he was **not being followed**.
+  * On the night Backett was murdered:
+    * Kinson and Labre accompanied Harlen to the **TAS Hostel**.
+    * They met Backett there.
+    * Backett and Harlen appeared to know each other quite well.
+    * Kinson and Labre stood guard outside while Harlen spoke with Backett.
+  * During the meeting, Kinson was sent out to buy a considerable quantity of **tusal**.
+    * He has no idea why.
+    * Harlen did not normally use the drug.
+    * Kinson knew a dealer named **Darrian Jak** and bought the tusal from him.
+  * Soon after Kinson returned:
+    * He resumed standing guard outside.
+    * Harlen **shot Backett**.
+    * There had been **no obvious argument beforehand**.
+    * Harlen, Kinson, and Labre fled the scene.
+  * Harlen stole two items from Backett’s room:
+    * A **statuette**.
+    * A **datatape**.
+  * During their escape, they used a device that suppressed nearby electronic systems.
+    * They simply called it **"the gadget."**
+    * Kinson does not know where it came from.
+    * He does not know how it works.
+    * It was one of Harlen’s most prized possessions.
+  * They also used **the gadget** during the attempt to assassinate **Professor Ujinka**.
+  * Kinson does not know why they were ordered to kill Ujinka.
+    * They were told to make the death **look like an accident**.
+    * They were also ordered to **steal whatever they could from the house**.
+  * Kinson does not know:
+    * Where Harlen is based.
+    * Where the statuette is now.
+    * Where the datatape is now.
+  * Kinson contacted Harlen through a contact in **Startown**:
+    * A Llellewyoly named **Exceedingly Discreet**.
+    * Exceedingly Discreet operates out of a brokerage called **Winter Shipping**.
+    * The password for gaining access is **"17 tons of flax."**
+    * Mentioning the phrase at Winter Shipping will get someone admitted to see Exceedingly Discreet.
+Then they decide what to do with Labre.
+Maria simply raises her sword.
+Vincent speaks.
+//“Now are we just going to kill him? Shouldn’t we turn him over to someone?”//
+For the first time, Maria’s face shows something other than cold detachment: incredulity.
+//“Turn him over to whom? Imperial Intelligence, who is following us?”//
+Vincent looks to David and Lucas. Their minds are still connected. They do not need to say anything. They are siding with Maria. Vincent sighs. His shoulders fall.
+Another head gets removed.
+Then it is back to normal. The bodies go into the incinerator, less two gauss pistols. And the “gadget”.
+//”We take the Professor to my parents.”// Vincent says as if it is already decided, because of course it is.
+//”The agents will want to follow us and they will wonder.”// David notes.
+//”No. They won’t.”// Maria notes.
+In the past, before Twilight’s Peak, they would have had to guess with Maria was using her telepathy. Not now. Now they could since it. Maria was adjusting the mind of one of the agents. They would not ask any questions.
+//”Let’s go.”// The flat voice was back//
+They easily get back to air car territory and fly the Professor to the Weiss estate. Alexandria understands without any explanations required.
+Then they head to The //Wandering Providence//. Safety. Home. Maria goes to recharge her psi-battery crystals and sleep. Anson comes up with David. They spend the night here.
+Tomorrow will be time for scouring the streets of Startown for more answers. They have leads:
+  *Winter Shipping in Startown
+  *The Station someplace amid sloughed off cargo in orbit
+  *Vlenn’s Body.
+What next?

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