Log:A Breach in the Case, Scene 1

A Breach in the Case 2015/10/26 Siege Indira Rick 1 It's been very nearly 24 hours since the Space Team Drinking Adventure. Griffin and Lien have had time to sober up, Indira has had a chance to wallow in the misery of plant-hangover, Violet has had an opportunity to be the most chipper and energetic person in the office in a good way in ages. Frankly everything is rosy.

Except, of course, for the fact that Rick "Breach" Mason is MIA. No one's seen him since he wandered off to the Main Street Tavern's restrooms last night "to drain his leg". Bad Company won't talk to Indira about the whereabouts of one of their personnel. Violet can't raise Rick through any of the usual channels. Indira, at some point, even tries the gizmo that Rick gave her over the summer - "the Bat Phone" he called it - and that does not operate as she was told it would.

The comic performs a loosely drawn flashback sequence as Indira listens to the mysterious "Bat Phone" ring without an answer on the other end. Rick pulls Indira aside in what may be a Starguard Building hallway and places "the Bat Phone" in her hands. His brown eyes look directly into her own as he hisses, "Keep this secret. Keep it safe. If you're ever in danger and I'm not with you, hit one of the autodial buttons. As long as we're in the same city, I'll be there in minutes. No matter what though, I'll get there fore you."

Being honest, "the Bat Phone" looks like an early 1990's style cellular phone. It is big and bulky and has a two foot collapsible antenna that would be better suited to spearing fish or clubbing leprechuans than being attached to a communication device of any sort. Indira is probably fortunate that the thing seems designed to fold down for maximum storage. Who knows what she thought it was really for though.

When even that secret method of summoning the Undead Soldier fails, that's when Griffin is summoned instead. He tries the usual channels of communication, the old Army comms manual - smoke signals and Vietnam era radio packs bouncing low frequency, high range radio signals off of insulating layers of the atmosphere - before he even gets a chance to look "the Bat Phone" over for clues. It looks to him like some kind of weirdly modified satellite phone. There's a good chance it's hardwired to call a number of preset phone numbers and may or may not contain a small flash charge wired for remote detonation in someone or something's face.

And that is how we find ourselves in a framing shot near the middle of the comic book, looking at a satellite view of the Colonial Bay Industrial Park. When all else has failed, Griffin suggests asking Starguard to run a trace on Rick's PDA...

This may require Indira to use her alien wiles on Agent Sykes, a tech specialist attached to one of the investigative teams Indira deals with on a regular basis as an expert on alien [CLASSIFIED].

Griffin gets to drive the embassy sedan into view on the eastern side of the satellite view. Indira is busy navigating from the back seat as Agent Sykes croons directions over the sedan's secure radio link.

The device looks primative even by earth standards. The way Indira looked at Rick when he entrusted her with it would probably be the same had he handed her one tin can with a piece of string attached for secret communique. But the gesture was appreciated. If patting ones head for doing good was a thing in her culture, she may have done so to Rick at the token toy given to her.

Still, she took his view of the device serious. She kept it secret. And safe. At least, until Rick had vanished with no way to find him and no answering of the phone. Knowing Rick as she does, something must be very wrong. Which is why she pulled secret strings, contacted Griffin, and maaaaybe flirted extensively with Agent Sykes with promises of things should he assist her in this ...project. Covertly. Just between them.

While on the phone with Agent Sykes, she relays driving directions to Griffin. "Turn up ahead at this next traffic coordinator." She must mean the traffic light.

"Alright next... light- left, check." Griffin says with a tone that implies his mind is focused on something else. Maybe he's worried too. Maybe he's watching out for anyone who might suddenly try to block their path, or worse - following them.

Indira's senses are alert. She has the window cracked open a bit to allow her chemically sensitivity senses to take in the surrounding scents of the area, while she also keeps her mind open to the ones around her as they drive. So much chatter. So much life. She tries to filter out what she can and focus on Agent Sykes directions.

There is a chance that Indira is getting off lucky, Sykes just wants a full on photo shoot with Indira. Something about a Journey Amongst Gaseous Fusion Engines convention in Oxnard in the spring? Indira probably didn't really grasp the meaning of Agent Sykes' squealing and fangirling and possible mantra-like repetitions of 'Uhura' and 'green-skinned Orion women'.

Griffin turns the sedan down a dirty dead end street. Based on the layout of the place, Griffin suspects this was originally intended as a parking lot and/or dumpster haven for the surrounding businesses. The car grinds to a halt almost precisely where Sykes informs them Rick's PDA is pinging the cell towers from. Something spooks Sykes on the other end because the call ends abruptly with Sykes apologizing to some sort of superior officer.

There is a lot of information for Indira (and Griffin) to process as the car idles. Indira, however, smells something familiar. Rick is somewhere nearby - the scent of his blood, sweat, and deodorant is heavy on the wind - and she can smell it. Griffin notices a nondescript warehouse with a logo suspiciously similar to Rick's former EOD team's patch.

Indira would recognize that deodorant anywhere!

Well, combined with the blood and sweat, that is, she recognizes his scent. "This is the location. Mr. Freeman! I think Mr. Mason is hurt. I detect..." she closes her eyes and turns her head about as if sniffing, but she doesn't make that typical sniffing sound. "Blood. Sweat. Exertion."

Without thinking of what could be at risk, she unbuckles herself and opens the door, stepping out of the car and out into the alley, head uplifted and mind outreaching.

This must be why Rick has trouble protecting her and getting her to watch out for herself. She acts without thinking.

Griffin tries to decide what to do with Indira. He can't imagine Rick being happy letting her tag along but he can't really figure out how to stop her either. This whole rescue op was her idea. Griffin thinks to himself, 'What's he gonna do hurt me?' then remembering Rick may be the most unkillable person he's ever met and a general badass. He would likely find a way to hurt him if he wanted... and that was about as far as Griff got getting to step 2 when Indira charges forward.

Griffin murmurs a curse under his breath and catches up to Indira.

Indira follows the smell of Rick, it leads in a direction that is not the same as the building with Rick's EOD logo painted on its face. Griffin can probably ponder the significance of this later, when he has regained control of Indira and her impulsive behaviors. For the moment, he can ponder the significance of the other visual attractions around him at the moment.

After getting clear of the asphalt, Indira leads Griffin on a charge past some dumpsters, a small statuary garden that may have once been nicer than a redneck roadside attraction, and then down into a drainage sump that is absolutely not up to code at all. Where the hell are the fences that should be around this thing? How many children have been lost investigating the wonderful, terrible mysteries of this sump?

Speaking of wonderful, terrible mysteries in the sump: There is a body laid out in the middle of the sump floor, face down over some kind of drainage artifact. If you guys squint, it looks like the body is wearing the same sort of outfit that Rick had on at the Tavern last night. Plus, you know, there's the fact that the wall of the sump is collapsing under your descent. Ever increasing sloughs of mud and saplings are tumbling downward toward the sump floor in advance of your quartet of footsteps.