Log:Guild Expedition, Scene 11

Guild Expedition 2016/07/12 	 Dorian Sapphire Dialydd Grimm Ambassador Gusdana Inforcer Diviak Torus Wasp

11

It's the day after the raid on the Nar'qu holding where the drug Mucrore was being distributed from. The heroes were so efficient that the fight, such as it was, was over in mere seconds. Far more time went into the planning than the actual fighting. Inforcer Diviak and Ambassador Gusdana make a final trip to the docking bay where the Takaga Explorer is currently waiting. Supplies are being loaded onto the ship after the relatively successful trade negotiations.

"So, how much -paperwork-... or more to the point, reports and documentation, which we call paperwork... did this quick raid make for -you-?" Vicki asks of the Inforcer as she greets the Ambassador and Inforcer at the docking bay entrance.

She's trying to engender a feeling of mutual respect and... well to be honest, comraderie between law enforcerment types.

Jackie returns to the Explorer after her trip back to Earth. The Takaga Explorer took five days to reach this far into Guild space. Wasp can do the trip in under a minute. Jackie doesn't return empty handed. She bring letters and the latest news from home.

Inforcer Diviak chuckles and bows to Vicki, "Enough. But the relatively bloodless fight makes it worth all the time it takes. The Ambassador has a suggestion to potentially make the situation more transparent."

Ambassador Gusdana nods. "Diviak made the suggestion, and I think it's worth considering. We are considering offering your Starguard a kind of...'deputized' status in relation to the Inforcers."

Dialydd watches the proceedings quietly, tilting his head from side to side at times as he listens. Every dozen heartbeats or so, he samples the Dream of Reality to see if anything out of the norm is occuring.

Grimm leans against one of the cargo boxes waiting to get loaded onto the ship, arms folded over her chest as she stands watch over the ship and the crew. Things have gone a little too easy on this trip, and she's suspicous now that they're ready to live with goods successfully.

Dorian raises a brow, "That strikes me as surprising." The human ambassador looks surprised as well, "We've only just made formal contact. Are you sure you want to take such a step?"

Inclining her head, Vicki looks to Dorian and then back to the Ambassador. She doesn't speak now that Dorian is voicing her concerns. She merely steps over towards the ship once more to continue assisting in the loading of cargo and such. She nods to Wasp with a quirky smirk on her face as she constructs a glowing blue cargo elevator to begin lifting the next load aboard.

Jackie gives Vicki a small grin and starts helping to load the cargo. Leaving Dorian and the diplomatic staff to discuss policy.

Ambassador Gusdana nods. "We are considering the move. But it may be tabled until ties are more solid. But we thought you should be aware that the possibility is being discussed."

Dialydd murmurs gently, his resonant tones cutting through the ambiant noise. "Apologies for interruption, but what would 'deputizing' mean, require of Starguard? And of non-centralized power on Earth called United Nations?"

The Torus is present, but notoriously quiet as it monitors and records this momentous occasion.

The beginning of trade relations with the Guild is a historic event, one unfortunately vacant from his future database- so he is providing an update to the official record.

It drifts among those who are moving cargo- saving every detail to memory.

Gusdana looks to Dialydd, "It wouldn't require anything, aside from having Starguard both having limited powers of law enforcement within the Guild...and helping to enforce those Guild laws on Earth proper."

Diviak adds, "Your organization would have to agree to it, of course. And therefore your political structure would have to as well. But I look at it as more of a partnership."

Grimm frowns a little at the comment of enforcing Guild Laws on earth. Her suspicious nature was aimed at the wrong target. She's about to say something, even opening her mouth before she stops and closes it again, tilting her head ever so slightly at something she perceives.

Dorian furrows his brow, "We wouldn't be part of the Guild, though. Wouldn't Earth be out of your jurisdiction?"

Guild laws... Vicki pauses in her loading operation. Well more to the point, she turns her head towards the two representatives of The Guild while the crane keeps loading. She also frowns a bit and narrows her eyes. Not the sort of thing that she would wish to accept. But she is not in charge here.

Diviak nods. "Perhaps the translation is poor." He taps his translator. "It would basically be like what you call 'extradition'."

The human ambassador nods. "That we might be able to work out. But it sounds like it will take a while to work out details."

Gusdana bows, and Diviak does as well in turn. The ambassador says, "Safe travels to you all."

The diplomatic team bows in return, "Thank you again for your hospitality." And with that...they board the ship. The two Guild members exit the docking bay, and the last bit of cargo is loaded.

Dorian smiles. "Let's get on board, shall we? It's going to take nearly a week to get back, after all. Might as well start now."

Grimm strides over to Vicki to "socialize" and gives her a meaningful look. "Hey," she says conversationally as she fixes her eyes on her. "I was wondering if I could pick up some points from you. When we get back home." Her tone sounds a litlte imposing.

Dialydd bows his head to Dorian in acknowledgment and turns to enter the ship. At the enterance he turns about to take one last look at the docking bay, his gaze traveling oover it as he opesn his senses once more.

Jackie chuckles, "I could get out and push, Dorian." she says.

Lifting a single brow, Vicki nods to Grimm before she snorts, "Jackie, I could spend the whole trip home explaining why that wouldn't work. But just to start with.. it would be like trying to push a person safely by shooting them with a bullet." She's grinning as she says this, but she finishes loading the pallet of stuff and then turns to board the ship herself, saying to Grimm, "I'd love to get better acquainted to say the least."

Grimm strides with Vicki, altering her pace to try and get Vicki to follow suit so she can put some distance between them at a nervous crew member. "Well, I'm still studying in college, but I thought I could ask you about some real field stories," she says, her voice trailing off more quietly to a whisper between only them. "What do your cop instincts tell you about the nervous guy on our 10," she verbally indicates a young caucasian guy in his early 20's.

The Torus stops following various crewmen and falls inline behind Dailydd. It drifts listlessly, happy with the course of today's happenings.

It stops when Jackie jokes about pushing the device. It does not need to calculate what would happen is is preparing to advise against it when Vicki does that very thing. Instead it then stops cold.

The Torus shrinks and resumes its course. Content to get on the ship as ordered.

Grimm adds under her breath, "I can't help but think he's hiding something...or knows something. I haven't noticed anything out of place...yet. He could just be scared." She starts to wonder about the contents of the cargo, glancing at the various crates.

Dorian boards with the rest of the team, and notes the new Guild shuttle. "This should be interesting to study, I bet." The hold door closes, and he and the diplomatic staff head toward the lounge area, out of the cargo bay.

Dialydd casts one lst look at the docking bay and then turns to go further into the ship. He murmurs to the Mechanic, "I THis one must remember to study more English and Guild Trade language."

Dorian looks to Jackie, "How are you feeling? Any better than when we were on our way out here?"

Jackie shrugs, "Not really, Dorian. I didn't get the impression that anything is going to be done about the abuse of their general population by the lizards. Well, I suppose at least I've told someone. Maybe it will do some good."

"Well, without investigating... he looks like he's hiding something. Could be he's smuggling something he snuck on board? Or for all I know, he would have planted a bomb as some extremist agenda thing." suggests Vicki softly to Grimm. She looks to Dorian and loads up a private radio encrypted transmission to send his way, "Spirit. I suggest you stall a bit. There is something I would like to investigate before we button up." And that said, she's turning in the general direction of that nervous crewman, moving casually in that direction.

Dorian goes to hug Jackie, assuming she'll let him. He gets the message and looks over to Vicki with a nod.

Jackie hugs back.

Grimm nods and looks a bit tight lipped at the suggestion. "So what would a bomb look like compared to all the other equipment and gear on this ship?" she whispers, looking towards the boxes. "I don't sense anything illegal on the nervous guy. Just his ID and some paper, a few other minor things. If he's hiding something, I don't think it's on him."

"Well then, it is good that this one is fluent in both." The Torus says to Dialydd.

Once on board, the Torus shifts again, growing and then reshaping the impossibly black mass into his anthropological simulation, The Mechanic.

Color all comes at once during the shifting. First a pixelization of the object its shaping, followed by a dream-like rush of color to the parts requiring it.

Dorian says quietly to Jackie, "We should talk later in private, if you feel up to it. Just let me know, okay?"

Jackie nods to Dorian, "Yes. I'd like that."

The dock worker in question seems to realize that he's being scrutinized. He avoids eye contact with both Vicki and Grimm and goes to hurry out of the cargo bay.

"

"My guess is that whatever he's hiding, he's already -done- it." And that's when the guy catches on. She curses softly and says, "Captain. I recommend we do a full scan of the ship. Every centimeter of it. Before we power anything up. Also.." she takes footage of the guy with a small camera that grows over one of her eyes and transmits this to Dorian. "This is the crewman behaving oddly. My... hunch tells me it's more likely to be sabotage than smuggling. But it could be something non-harmful."

Dialydd nods to the Mechanic.

The crewman leave the bay, and then Dorian motions to the team, "Let's get the crates searched as a start, eh? I suspect whatever it is might be here."

Dialydd nods to the Mechanic. "It is well, good, that one of us does." He adds after a moment. "And why is English so...mixed?" He hears Dorian statement and heads back out to the cargo bay to assist.

Dorian says to Jackie, in case she didnt' hear the conversation over hte radio, "We might have had something smuggled on board. One of the crew members was acting weird."

Jackie shrinks and flies to the cargo and then glances over at Dorian, "I can do the heavy lifting but I could do with someone helping who knows what should and shouldn't be on board."

The Mechanic adjusts his tie as soon as the transformation is complete.

"We can begin your lessons anytime you wish." he says to Dialydd as they make their way through the lounge.

He finds a seat and makes himself comfortable, completely unaware of the suspect crewman or Grimm & Vicki's slow-speed chase of said crewman.

"Though I believe I will need to return to Earth while the ship makes its journey back. There are a number of things that cannot wait for this vessel's relatively slow speed to cart me back. But I can return as necessary." He assures Dialydd.

He seems completely content until the call to search the ship goes out from the commander.

The Mechanic sighs and uncrosses his legs.

He lifts up off the couch and follows behind Dorian- without touching the floor.

Jackie adds, "Lets get the cargo lock open so we can get whatever it is off the ship in a hurry if we need to."

The Mechanic adds over comms though does not speak aloud, "If someone could provide a registry of what does belong- that would be most helpful for our searching.">>

At Dorian's orders, Gabrielle begins to try and spread her supernatural senses over the cargo. But there's a lot to go through. "I can start looking, but some help would be useful. Vicki, you got the crewman? You'd probably be better at getting information out of him than I would." Her method would just involve terrifying the guy even further until he spilled the beans.

Dorian nods. "I'll get the officer in charge of the cargo down here." He places a call over the radio, and the woman in charge of that shows up a couple minutes later. "I have the manifest here, sir."

"I would not suggest we -detain- the crewman in question. But we should keep him under observation. I don't want him feeling cornered. If he were to panic, he could detonate a bomb if that is indeed what he has here." suggests Vicki.

"I was not the one who initially noticed the crewman behaving oddly. Ms. Grimm here is to thank for that." she adds as she moves over and with a gesture.. forms several glowing blue floating crowbars in the air.

She looks to Grimm then and lifts a brow. "Unless you think detaining and questioning him is a good idea. I could be wrong there."

Dialydd murmurs to Dorian, "May this one see the cargo manifest, Commander? This one is good with lists."

Dorian nods and shows the list to Dialydd.

Unless the contents are labeled as fragile Wasp's method of searching is to open each container and simply turn it upside down to trip everything out for checking. Then toss each item back into the container as it's cleared of suspicion.

A couple of crates get opened, and the contents of them seem to match their manifest. The officer helps to check the contents as the heroes go.

Grimm suddenly frowns and folders her arms over her chest, stopping before one of the crates. "Check this one. It's not weapons. I think our nervous friend was trying to smuggle some of those alien drugs."

Nodding to herself, Vicki turns and moves off after the crewman in question. Where can he go? He's on board a starship. "Let's make sure nobody leaves our docking bay, eh?" she asks over the comm to Dorian. "I'm going to have a chat with... crewman..." and she looks up the crew manifest, seeking the name.

Dialydd takes a moment ot go over the list and commit it memory. He then hands it back to Dorian. "Thank you, Commander." The robed figure then goes over to the nearest cargo container and opens it. He notes the number on the container and then murmurs, "Ms Grimm? Do you have some way to...sense the names and number on the various objects in each container? Or determine their weight?"

With time being fo the essence, The Mechanic teleports into a better psoiton- floating upside down just to the left of Dailydd as he reviews the documentation. Unfortunately for him- he's blind. So he'll need a document that he can download into his systems.

"Commander, is it possible that you send that list to me? I have a bit of a problem with ... 'reading' like that."

He lifts his glasses to show Dorian the black pools that are there instead of eyes.

He shifts his hands into crowbars to help assist with the opening of crates.

The name on the crew list is 'John Pyles'.

Dorian nods and sends the list to The Mechanic. But then he looks over to Grimm, "You were able to tell that without opening hte crate?"

Grimm turns her head over to Dialydd and quips, "What do I look like, psychic?" Then she disentangles a hand from her folded arms and holds it out in a stopping gesture. "Don't answer that. I probably could it if were light enough inside, which....hmmm. Okay, maybe I -could- do that." She hasn't tried, but in theory, she might be able to. She whips her head about to look to Dorian and nods. "Can't hide much from me," she grins.

Dorian grimaces, "This is the stuff they were shipping in that raid you helped with?" He walks over to the crate and helps to open it.

Mr. Pyles is nearly back to his quarters when Vicki catches sight of him again. He's at the far end of a hall from her.

"Seems like it, yet. That Mucrore stuff the Nar'qu were going to transport before we busted them," Grimm comments.

The Mechanic nods as soon as the file is received. "Thank you, Commander." He says as he floats up and rights himself. Then he drifts towards the center of the cargo area so he might better see all that surrounds him with his Quantum Awareness.

The door to Mr Pyles's quarters is going to be shut when he arrives. But it's going to be a glowing blue version of his door. "Crewman. I would very much like a word with you." says Vicki as she approaches him from behind. "I would prefer to avoid anything... less... civil than a conversation."

Dorian looks at hte item in question in the crate. "Great. So...what now? Contact the Guild and say, 'Well...we almost smuggled this stuff off your station?'"

John takes a deep breath and forces a smile as he turns to face Vicki, "Umm...what can I help you with?"

Smiling wanly, Vicki just shrugs, "Well, to start with, it will go much better for you if you are upfront with the situation. Is there any contraband or anything dangerous in your quarters? We already found your stash in the cargo bay." She shrugs, "It's rather pointless denying involvement."

Grimm puts her hands on her hips and thinks on it briefly. What would Malcolm do? He's usually the angel on her shoulder when dealing with moral quandries. "We be honest and tell the truth. We caught one of our men stealing. Return the goods. And in the name of cooperation, insist they allow us to handle any legal proceedings. We don't have extradition agreements with them just yet."

The Mechanic takes a second scan just to be sure, but the results are the same. According to his Quantum Awareness- this crate is the only thing that does not seem to match the manifest provided to him by the Commander.

He teleports away from the center of the bay and arrives a split second later with the otehrs surrounding the crate they've opened with the contraband in it.

He says aloud, "This seems to be the only crate of note. The others match the manifest."

Wasp bobs in the air near Dorian. "Yes. What else? Keep it a secret and hope it's never exposed. Telling the Inforcers is the right thing to do."

Dorian nods. "You're right. That's the other option, of course. It's just going to be embarrassing. I'll contact Diviak about it. At least we're on good terms with him specifically."

Dialydd murmurs softly. "The scientists who expect the soil samples and foodstuffs that this container should have held will be disappointed." His gaze then turns to Dorian. "Given thaht Earth does not have an extradition treaty with the Guild and that the human is a citizen of Earth, turning him over could set a precedent that Stargurad tacitly accepts the authority of the Inforcers and the Guild. Byut the decsion is yours, Commander."

John breaks eye contact with Vicki, "Uh...well...umm...." He hesitates. "No, there's nothing in my quarters. Just the stuff in the cargo bay."

Dorian shakes his head and looks to Dialydd, "We're just going to return the drugs themselves. Not the whole crate. This was likely slipped into the crate during packing."

The robed figure nods to Dorian.

"Very good John. We will have to verify that. But your cooperation will go a long way towards helping your situation." says Vicki. She says into her radio, "Captain. Crewman Pyles is cooperating. I recommend we return the contraband to the Guild, but we handle discipline of our crewman in house." She looks back to John and lifts a brow, "Did you steal the drugs yourself? Or did you do it through a connection you made locally?"

Jackie asks, "How did whoever did this get hold of those drugs in the first place?"

"We may need some of our diplomats on this. They might insist the crewman responsible face Guild justice, whatever that is," Gabrielle murmurs. "...I'd like to get a hold of the Inforcer lawbook..."

Dorian nods to Jackie, "Good question. He didn't have access to the Inforcers' evidence, I'm assuming..."

Dialydd murmurs softly, "This one spectacles, no, speculates the NAr'qu contacted the crewman. Offered him compensation of some sort. Criminal activity is sadly common across species. Is doubtful Nar'qu are absent from Earth and would need resupplies, yes?"

Grimm tilts her head in thought. "Are we sure...that guy was part of our crew list?"

John shifts uneasily. "Well, uh...this alien asked me to take it on board, see? Paid me some money in exchange. And I was to make contact with another guy on Earth. I have his contact info."

Nodding, Vicki asks, "Do you have any information about the individual who paid you?" she asks. Then into her radio she grins and says, "We may have a way to put together a sting on two worlds." She looks to John and lifts both brows. "Which would go a long way towards paying a debt to society.."

Dorian nods to Grimm, "Yeah, he's part of the crew."

John nods to Vicki, still looking nervous, "I can supply both names."

"Yes, we could offer the name of a local dealer to the Guild, and then go and pick up the person on -our- end when we get home. I think it could work out well." offers Vicki. "Especially if Crewman Pyles cooperates with the operation."

It's a matter of a couple of hours. The diplomats have to get involved again. The drugs are handed over to the Inforcers, and the name of the local distributor is handed over as well to Diviak to investigate. Pyles remains on board the ship, but confined to quarters for the time being, with a couple of guards posted outside his door.

After that, the ship manages to finally take off, heading back toward Earth. The trip back is thankfully uneventful, if a bit boring. Five more days spent cooped up on the ship, but at least it's only days as opposed to months or years...

The interior of the Takaga Explorer is relatively spacious. What would be a normal exploration vessel has been outfitted to feel like a cruise liner for the diplomatic mission to the Guild. As a result, it feels much warmer than it might have otherwise. Aboard there are twenty crew members, twenty scientists, ten stewards, and a diplomatic staff of about twenty.

That's in addition to the Starguard Gamma contingent and Captain Tamli Yosho.