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[ALLI]The Rabbit Hole
Topic Started: Mar 16 2006, 01:12:44 AM (661 Views)
Kandarin
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Ferret princess
Krechenstadt

Ajatasutra Ahra, agent of Damis, special dispatch of the Kandarin Federation, walked down the street. No one noticed him. It was a busy street once again, but he could make out the signs of war. Usually caulk over bullet holes here and macadam patches there, but there were still some buildings that were gutted. The Krechens were hardy folk. And he was on a mission.

When he found it the apartment in the cheaply built block was small, but it had had good care taken of it. Though sparse, it was swept with surgical precision. Ahra was certain you could eat off any surface. It had been kept with the care one would give a museum.

Or a memorial, he thought, scanning the room. There were three tiny rooms, a kitchen, a hall, and a bedroom. He peered into the last. There was a divider, separating a larger bed from two small child's beds. The latter were neatly kept- too neatly kept for anyone to have used them in some time. He heard a rustle, and looked back. Against the evening's dying light of the apartment's narrow window, a woman in her mid '30s entered the hall, sat on a bench and stared. Not at the fading pictures on the wall, or the old television set sitting on a shelf- It's probably all State TV anyway- but at the door. As if she was waiting for someone to come through it. Something she's lost. I know that. I know the details, even. They've all lost something.

He looked at himself. His power suit was still tasked to 'stealth'- it was one of those wonderful features you could get at great expense. He faded into the walls of the room. Someone not looking, and the woman was not, would pay no attention to him. Of course, if the State police hadn't been tipped off beforehand, there'd be a good chance they'd have found him.

He stepped out of the bedroom, and into the hall, powering down his stealth systems. <<Good evening, Ma'am.>> At first, she didn't respond. After about a minute, she turned around. <<Good evening>>, she said with the voice of someone who didn't care anymore. He thought she should care. Here was a man in black, standing in her house with no appearance of entry, much of his face covered, with funny elven eyes and ears. <<Don't you want to know who I am, Ma'am?>>

<<Not really. Who are you?>>

<<My name is- my name is not important. I am here to ask you about your family. Marya, is it?>>

<<Yes, that is my name. It used to be Marjeta, if that means anything to you. But, the police->> she started.

<<The police know I am here. I am here with their blessing, but I am not one of them. Tell me about- tell me how you found them. Tell me how you lost them.>>

She hesitated. Now she looked at the pictures on the walls, before turning to the door, and turning to Ahra. <<Pyotr I met when he was seventeen. It was love at first sight. I was still a student and he a cadet at the Timoshenko Academy of Air Defense. But they have rules on these things, so we waited, and wrote to each other. We were married in the fall, after he graduated. It is fortunate he was assigned here, and not far away.>>

<<It wasn't easy. Nothing in life ever is. We moved here, and eight years ago we had the twins. Dmitri and Lukina. She was smart, very smart for her age, and very kind. He was courageous and honest, he would never tell a lie and wanted to be like his daddy. We were happy then.>>

Happy? Ahra looked out the window. How could any be happy here? In this poverty and pollution? And yet- yet, if what we have seen is true, there is a greater evil. No one has been a more consistent opponent of Communism than we, and we shall unsay no word we have spoken. He shook his head. Before that which we have seen...the past, with its crimes, its follies, and its tragedies, fades away. I see the Krechen soldiers standing on the threshold of their native land, guarding the fields which their fathers have tilled since time immemorial. I see them guarding the homes where their mothers and wives pray-ah, yes, for there are times when we all pray-for the safety of their loved ones, the return of the bread-winner, of their champion, of their protector. I see the ten thousand villages of Krechzianko where the means of existence is wrung so hardly from the soil, but where there are still primordial human joys, where maidens laugh and children play. I see advancing upon this in hideous onslaught the Xiopothan war machine...I see behind all this a small group of villainous men who plan, organize and launch a cataract of horrors upon mankind...such as that which devastated this city. Never again. <<Please, Marya, tell me about the war.>>

The woman was visibly choked up now, wiping away tears. <<When the plague began, they told us all to go to our homes, to wait it out. Men came around. Brought food, some days. Other days, nothing. Pyotr was away, with the Army. The twins stayed here. Then- then they came. Chittering and screeching. They killed many, many people. I don't know how they got in, but they filled the building. They took Dmitri, dragged him away, I never saw him again. We hid for a day and a night. Lukina said- she said that she was going to try to get to safety. She told me to be very brave and that she would be safe. They found her body two days later, in the alley behind the apartment house. The creatures left me alone, and when I left the apartment they were gone.>>

She was sobbing, reaching for tissue from a half-empty box on a shelf. <<Pyotr was left to me, but they said he died, at a place called Triyekska, on the river. He was crossing the river with his men, when a bullet struck him from behind. They told me this happens many times in war.>> She pointed to the wall, where three pictures hung, of her husband and children. <<That is all that is left of them now.>>

Ahra was- moved. Hurt, a little. He had seen many deaths, it was true, many by his own hand. He had been trained not to think of the cost, of what every death means to a mother, a spouse, a child of those who were lost. <<Marya, we can help you. You and others in this city, with similar stories. We can help bring justice to those who did this. But you must come with me.>>

He held out his hand, and waited.
"Torpored Caitiff Antediluvian"

Quote:
 
ClipSnap says:
Kandarin should just implode from the sheer ridiculousness of it all.
ClipSnap says:
I mean, no nation could ever sustain that many contradicting belief systems and still exist.
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Kandarin
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Ferret princess
Krechenstadt

Ajatasutra Ahra crawled across the ceiling of the bunker complex. To be sure, he'd gotten the official records. But he knew how Communist states work, and suspected he was not getting the whole story. So he'd come here, in the dead of night, to check the records directly. He'd tried this before, in several other places, only to find the records mysteriously wiped.

He dropped to the floor, his fall muffled by the gravitic dampers in his suit, and looked around, infrared visor humming gently. He could see the various staff and security making their rounds. I only need to get in and get out, don't make a scene.

He found the server quickly enough. Eyeing the room for personnel, he popped a mechanical linking tentacle out of his suit's right vambrace and inserted it into the nearest port.

Only an hour later, once he was securely out of range, did he actually read the file he had copied.

Quote:
 
KAAD radar listing
May 24, 20--
15:00 to 16:00 hours

Single double-engine aircraft {Unknown class} approach vector two-nine-zero, 15:29:15 dropped payload

[Notes: see accompanying files on biological payloads]
[Notes: see accompanying files on May 23 bombing]


His heart sank. All that for nothing. The private record matches the one they gave me. The bug was dropped by a conventional plane, not a grav vessel. That rules out Pack and EM involvement.

Tasmin City

Aleksander Vilmar was having an easier time than his counterpart. The Kangarawans had been courteous, polite, and patient with his arrival. He walked to the front desk of the ministry, and showed his credentials. "Excuse me, I'm here for the 10:00 with Mr. Fisher."
"Torpored Caitiff Antediluvian"

Quote:
 
ClipSnap says:
Kandarin should just implode from the sheer ridiculousness of it all.
ClipSnap says:
I mean, no nation could ever sustain that many contradicting belief systems and still exist.
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Kangarawa
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Maker of Coffee
Ministry of Defence, Tasmin City, Kangarawa

Unknown to the general public, the building which housed the Department of Defence also housed the Department of Intelligence. There was an alliance of sorts between the two departments, albeit an uneasy one. Defence had the ground floor up, and Intelligence had the four subfloors. As far as Defence was concerned, that was exactly as it should be. After all, the "spooks" could travel anywhere couldn't they, including through floors?

Once the front desk buzzed, rather than have Vilmar endure the indignity of the normal search procedure, Fisher decided to go up and meet him in the lobby.

When Aleksander Vilmar showed his identification at the front desk, Charles Fisher, the Under Secretary of Intelligence, already knew as much about him as it was possible to know about a Kandarinese. Truthfully, much of his information came from the Embassy in Kandarin. Fisher did wonder why Vilmar had made an appointment with him rather than the Secretary, but was certainly not going to pass up the opportunity to speak with the man.

Fisher approached the reception desk, hand outstretched, and keen eyes looking up into Vilmar's. "Mr. Vilmar. I'm Charles Fisher. Pleasure to meet you. Thought I'd escort you down to the dungeon people around here refer to as my office, myself."

"Mr. Fisher, the pleasure is mine," stated Vilmar, and the man with the slight limp and the tall, dark elf moved towards the elevator.
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Kandarin
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Ferret princess
"Dungeons are fine, Mr. Fisher! I like a good dungeon myself..." Vilmar chattered as the elevator carried them. "If you're worried about the sun, you can rest easy knowing that it's not actually needed..." He looked around at the hallways. Normal-looking offices contrasted with bare rock walls. He saw the functionality behind it immediately. at least three layers of karst limestone. Listening in on this from outside would be a nightmare. He suspected a similar thing was done back home, although the local Malev stone would not be nearly as effective. If a mixture were substituted...

He snapped back to attention upon arriving at Mr. Fisher's office. It was fairly utilitarian. Aside from a few portraits on the desk, presumably relatives, there was no clear sign of ornamentation. Less things to hide bugs in, I presume. He smiled. "Mr. Fisher, I bring some news concerning your citizens, some information of other kinds as well. I suppose this is better suited for Josephs's department. I hope you don't mind if I call him Joseph, one of my associates shares his name..."

Aleksander became quite serious now. "I'm sorry, I'm babbling. I suppose I should first understand how much you know so far. Do the names Amy Wang and Wi Ling mean anything to you? Failing that, does the name Adam Kuragosa mean anything?"
"Torpored Caitiff Antediluvian"

Quote:
 
ClipSnap says:
Kandarin should just implode from the sheer ridiculousness of it all.
ClipSnap says:
I mean, no nation could ever sustain that many contradicting belief systems and still exist.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kangarawa
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Maker of Coffee
Fisher had watched Vilmar's appraisal of both the hallways and of his office with great interest. An analytical mind, very at odds with the image he is currently projecting. Unused to this side of the business by all reports. More of a diplomat, and extremely good at what he does. Interesting juxtaposition. As Vilmar spoke, Charles listened intently, not only to the content, but to the tonal changes in Vilmar's voice, all the while observing his visitor closely.

"I have no objection at all to your referring to him as Joseph, provided you refer to me as Charles." Smiling, he added, "And by Joseph, I am assuming you're referring to a very good friend of mine, Joseph Oneida." Profer, won't be the Ministry...has to be the Department of Scientific Affairs.

Vilmar nodded, assessing Fisher as unobtrusively as Fisher was him.

Fisher sat forward in his wooden chair, clasping his hands in front of him on the desk, a glint of humour in his eyes. "Mr. Vilmar, I'm simply an aging civil servant. Just for the sake of clarity, why don't we assume that I know absolutely nothing, and have never heard any of those three names before. That will allow you to start at the easiest place possible...the beginning. May I offer you something before you begin?"

Aleksander Vilmar was really not surprised by the response.
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Kandarin
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Ferret princess
"Just water, please." Vilmar watched as Fisher filled two glasses. "I shouldn't have expected you to know them. I probably should have contacted Joseph first. The former two were assistants to Mr. Kuragosa, who was tasked as a loan to the Kandarin Defense Ministry. Mr. Kuragosa has special talents, and we had need of his aid on a...project of ours. If you knew Mr. Kuragosa, you would know he is a principled man, and since the project in question was technically a WMD project...well, I won't mince words. The man sold out to your country's rogue Faction. My people were aware of this, but felt that a more discreet transfer..." Confessing, Alex? "Just clearing the board of our transgressions, Mr. Fisher. We had no intention of giving them the results." He smiled.

"Mr. Kuragosa's principles came through eventually. He...well, I'm afraid many things are still classified, but all the details on our project will be made available to your ambassador Ms. Alexander in time. In any case, he did not do what the Faction wanted. They were displeased and took hostages. Mr. Kuragosa is valuable to us and we were forced to bail them out. One hostage, anyway, the other died in the Faction's custody. It was a rather tricky situation...let us say that the disappearance of the reserve barracks at Lake Macquarie was not an accident. We needed something for the Faction to hear, without openly saying we'd double-crossed them." He smiled again. "Still clearing the board, Mr. Fisher. He is currently working with us. The other two are dead, because- well, I'll get to that."
"Torpored Caitiff Antediluvian"

Quote:
 
ClipSnap says:
Kandarin should just implode from the sheer ridiculousness of it all.
ClipSnap says:
I mean, no nation could ever sustain that many contradicting belief systems and still exist.
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Kangarawa
Member Avatar
Maker of Coffee
Fisher took a sip of water. Accomplished as a diplomat doesn't come close to describing him!

"I would like to suggest that we request Joseph join us for the remainder of this meeting, with your permisssion of course. I will grant him the necessary clearance." Fisher watched Vilmar's reaction closely.

"To be honest, Mr. Fisher, I seriously debated about approaching Joseph first. I have no objections."

Fisher made the requisite calls, and stated, "Joseph should be here within the next 10 minutes or so. As you heard, I told him nothing of what you've already told me, simply that you were here, and had debated about speaking with him before you came to me. That certainly got his attention," he added, chuckling.

Fisher became quite serious. "Dr. Adam Kuragosa disappeared some three to five months ago, his daughter and their housekeeper sometime after. The housekeeper did a fair bit of covering for his absence until she herself went missing. Kept saying that he needed time to recuperate from the death of his wife. Kuragosa himself...one of the brightest minds in genetic engineering around. But obviously your government knew that, and I can only assume that any WMD that you are referring to has some link to genetics. The other two names, no idea.

As for the explosion at Lake Macquarie, it was to me the President brought the telegram from some space-faring nation doing exercises, obviously an ally of yours from what you've just said." Fisher paused, and took another sip of water.

"Just exactly how in the name of Profer did you know enough to deal with the Faction? And if you knew enough to deal with them, the implication here is that you know who to deal with. That information alone..."

He was interrupted by a call from the Reception area, indicating that the Minister of Health had arrived.

Curtly he said, "We'll continue this when I return, Mr. Vilmar. Joseph deserves to met upstairs."

Within four or five minutes, Fisher was ushering Oneida into his office, and performing introductions. Once all three were seated, and Oneida had a cup of tea in hand, Fisher abruptly said, "I've brought Joseph up to speed on the information you gave me. He has some information for you."

Oneida looked over at Vilmar. "I believe that both Wang and Ling were lab techs of ours. We often lose employees to the private sector, and that was our assumption in this case."

Fisher, speaking softly, added, "Perhaps you would like to continue with your...story,Mr. Vilmar. We'll ask or answer questions as necessary."
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Kandarin
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Ferret princess
Thank you, Mr. Oneida. Vilmar pondered. Given where we're going with this, I'd pretty much have to explain everything...save the princess for later, though. Explaining that would be a lot trickier.

"It goes back to the Xiopothan metroids.", he began. "That's what their project was named, anyway. We're not sure if it's the species' real name, so we've taken to calling them bugs. The metroids are basically biological Von Neumann machines." He hesitated. "Not really. It's not exactly clear how, but they somehow drain life from things. The process is usually fatal. Larval bugs reproduce rapidly by division. One of my associates has some more details, but they aren't really necessary."

"The Xiopothan government manufactures these things for use as biological weapons. The project is top secret- we only learned of it via an operative of a third nation who was present at an outbreak. One of numerous outbreaks, rather- it appears that the Xiopothans can't control them very well. Despite this, they dropped some on Krechenstadt in the war. You may have heard various rumors about it."

"As appears to be their custom, the Xiopothans lost control of their drop in Krechenstadt. We recovered specimens and returned to Kandarin to have a better look at them. My superiors believe that with our superior technology we may be able to develop better controls than the Xiopothans and that there may be peaceful uses for the bugs. However, the metroid genome doesn't look like anything we've ever seen. We decided to look for a new perspective."

He waved to Joseph Oneida. "It appears there are a few moles in your department. What we know about the Faction is...iffy. A few defectors here and there. Nothing that gave us really up-to-date information. But when we contacted your government to seek Mr. Kuragosa's aid, they were the ones who responded. Since we simply had to have Kuragosa..." He trailed off. "His reputation is impressive. More so now, I'm sure, under whatever name he's using. We had to have him, so we communicated through them. The other two were his aides, and went with him to assist in our project."

Vilmar stood up and walked over to a bookshelf, as if looking for something. "Kuragosa's aides are dead. They were murdered by agents of the government of Xiopothos. Or at the very least we have no possible alternative but to assume they were Xiopothan agents, given what we know about the squad in question. We can only suppose they were killed in retaliation for tinkering with a species that Freehold views as his own. They also attempted to kill Kuragosa, several other employees, the project's prototype, the Cabinet member behind the project, and the daughter of the aforementioned member. None of their attempts were successful, but it's that last one that has my countrymen up in arms. The ironic part, though, is that Kuragosa's project's result was the successful domestication of a modified bug variant. Freehold had the most to gain from a more advanced nation modifying his specs, but it looks like he threw that away in a bid to keep his skeletons in the closet."
"Torpored Caitiff Antediluvian"

Quote:
 
ClipSnap says:
Kandarin should just implode from the sheer ridiculousness of it all.
ClipSnap says:
I mean, no nation could ever sustain that many contradicting belief systems and still exist.
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