And Angel is in the limbo of not having specified either party, so as befits his stealthy nature, he might show up anywhere.

Could have sworn I posted something...*begins paranoid jibbering*

I think I'll attach him to Swims and Davis if you don't mind terribly - Davis needs looking after (and watching). Whether he spotted the second bodyguard or not I leave up to you.

Since it's a bit too late to gracefully edit it in, Davis has actually stepped between the guy with the gun and Swims to block his shot somewhat.

*rolls*

Angel does indeed spot the second guy.

I tried to write the situation so it wasn't a foregone conclusion that the guy has you dead to rights, although it seems like it's turned into a standoff + talking.

The image can be substituted with coordinates, a starfield map, 3D visualization, or something similar. I just couldn't think of what else to use besides an image.

(Edit: Fixed, somewhat. Making people who have a thousand years of separation from Earth understand we're from a place they barely have a concept of isn't as easy as it sounds.)

If you're cool with having jellyfish feelers in your head, we'll commence with the questions. Davis would have read the mission reports from Whiirr. You know the interface is non-invasive but painful if the creature has to speak to you rather than simply translate for you. As everyone speaks the same thing, that shouldn't be a problem.

Works like a lie detector, yes?

well, kind of. The alien senses the electrical impulses in your brain and can, with proper training, discern human thought patterns. You assume this one has had proper training. It literally reads your mind. Thinking in a different language won't work - it keys off of the expressed idea rather than the language.

Like most anything else, it can be fooled. Kind of like the Ghostbusters and Gozer, if you can only force yourself to think of what you need to think of, the alien would likely pick up on your broadcasted thought and perhaps not the truth. Also, if you truly believed a falsehood, it would obviously report that lie as truth as well. The trick is not to think of lying. The good news is, of all the people it could headwrap, Davis is the best to trick it.

Good to know for later, no doubt.

Still, for right now, the truth is probably the best policy.

Two things:

First of all, what are Semo's possible options? Obviously he doesn't want to board the ship if at all possible, but do they vent the entire docking bay when the ship leaves? If so, he'll probably want to russle up some canned O2 and sit tight. Once they're gone, he can find a way back to the Morningstar.

As for us, we should get ahold of a place to meet up with the Bashkarans again once we've met up with Hugh. Two important points, though:
1. This is (assuming he's still with us) Swims' first actual proof that we're telling the truth. His gut believed us, now his head can too.
2. Do we tell them about Arketta? If they were betrayed by an actual spy, they'll want to know about her, and check her. Not to mention should could be good propaganda. "Our cause is so great and righteous even Imperium Turai have switched to our side upon seing Earth. Imagine what we can do for you." Or something. Sorry if I'm not coherent, I forgot my ADHD meds today.

Not sure of the layout at the moment. Looking around, does Semo see any exits? Could her perhaps climb under the platform holding the cargo? Can he walk over to the loading crew, and if so, how close to the Turai does that bring him?

PS, I'm assuming Semo knows the designation for the dock he came from. What is it?

I think we might want to hold off on telling them "You see her, the tall one with the big gun? She used to be Turai". Wait until we've gained their trust in our abilities a bit more.

fanchergw wrote:

Not sure of the layout at the moment. Looking around, does Semo see any exits? Could her perhaps climb under the platform holding the cargo? Can he walk over to the loading crew, and if so, how close to the Turai does that bring him?

PS, I'm assuming Semo knows the designation for the dock he came from. What is it?

Ummm...I think the loading crew are her people too. Just FYI.

Time for the old 'walk casual'... :wink:

Do we have radios that I can use to talk to Angel? I'd like to communicate with him without being seen talking to him.

Yes, everyone has radios.

I think at this point, we have the following requests of the Bakasharan:
1. Pass news of us up the chain of comand. As they themselves said, they're primarily recruitment here. To really do good, we need to get in touch with the guys who are actually fighting back, the frontline stuff. Ideally, well be able to get support for our mission to gather the data, or see how much of it they can give us.
2. Provide us with a way to contact them again. If we wind up up a creek during this mission, a phone-a-friend ould be nice.

And....while I was writting this, Punkey went ahead and asked pretty much what I was going to say he should. Oh well, there's still some longerterm stuff in here, so it's still getting posted.

I'm reading your mind.

Punkey wrote:

I'm reading your mind.

As the guy behind the spy, isn't that your job?

I just realized what "getting scanned" means. I think we should get out of here, now.