Mon Aug 08, 2005 3:47 pm
Sorry about the wait, but here's chapter 6.
Chapter 6
Deckard sat in silence trying to contain the uneasiness that was beginning to grow inside of him. Here he was sitting across from two representatives of one of the most feared terrorist groups in all of Sirius, and they wanted the damn case too. How crazy is this going to get? he thought to himself.
"I see from your reaction that you are familiar with the Order, or at least you think you are," Rianna said. "I assure you that not everything you have heard about us is true, and I think you'll come to realize that we are not who you think we are. Why don't you relax and have a drink on us." She motioned to the bartender, who came over to their table. He leaned over as she whispered something to him. He looked at Deckard for a moment, then returned to the bar. He came back several minutes later with three mugs of Rheinland Lager. Deckard stared at the mug for a moment. Rianna Blair watched his reaction with an amused look on her face.
"Relax, Mr. Deckard, it's only a drink. We haven't poisoned it."
Deckard stared at her for a moment, then picked up the mug and took a long pull at it.
"Now then," Rianna continued, "to business. As I mentioned before, we are very interested in the contents of that case you're carrying."
"You know," Deckard interrupted, "you're the third person today who has 'expressed interest' in this damn thing. What the hell is in the case that's so important?"
"We don't know exactly, but we have a pretty good idea of what it might be." Rianna handed a vid-pad to Deckard. "This video footage was smuggled out of a top-secret laboratory in Liberty space. It makes for interesting viewing."
Deckard watched as the video began to play. The picture was somewhat grainy, but he could make out most of the details. He watched as an unconscious man was wheeled on a gurney into a darkened room. The video seemed to skip a bit, and Deckard realized it had been edited. A medical robot pressed a hypo-injector to the man's neck and administered some kind of drug into the man, who began to sweat profusely. The video skipped again, and Deckard watched in horror as the man began to convulse violently. Blood began to ooze out of the man's skin. The video skipped again and showed the man, now dead, lying in a pool of blood, hardly recognizable, as it appeared the man's skin had literally melted off of his body. Deckard, who had seen men die many times, was doing his best not to vomit at the horrid sight. Rianna watched him intently, gauging his reaction.
"As you can see, the video was edited heavily, but you can see the time stamp on it. It took nearly an hour for this man to die an excruciatingly painful death."
"What in God's name does that to a person?" Deckard asked in a low whisper, still disturbed from what he had just seen.
"The man in the video was an Outcast," Rianna answered, "and was unlucky enough to be a guinea pig in a very unpleasant experiment. Are you familiar with Project Red Flag?"
"No."
"I thought not. Red Flag is a top-secret division of the Liberty military. So top-secret, in fact, that most of the high-level officials in Liberty government are unaware of its existence. In fact, it's believed that even President Jacobi is unaware about many of its operations."
"Well, that's comforting and all," Deckard said, "but what's that got to do with the case?"
"Red Flag's primary purpose when it was created was to defend Liberty from large-scale sabotage, terrorism, espionage, and so on. Kind of like a top-secret version of the LSF. However, it would seem that Red Flag has become so powerful that their top operatives believe they can operate above and beyond the bounds of Liberty government regulation. Which leads us to that case of yours.
"We believe that the contents of the case are some kind of biological or genetic agent created by Red Flag to specifically affect the altered genetic structure of the Outcasts, while leaving those with no genetic alterations unaffected. The agent attacks the cells at a genetic level and destroys them from within. Once the cellular integrity of the victim has been compromised, it's only a matter of time before the victim succumbs to a very painful death."
"So this Red Flag has created something to kill all the Outcasts. This is a bad thing? I personally don't have a problem killing Outcasts, especially if there's a million credits in it for me."
"The Outcasts are still human, Mr. Deckard, misguided as they are. I would think that the thought of the possibility of killing millions would be enough to convince you. Apparently I was wrong, but maybe some further explanation will change your mind. We believe that this agent has an unintended side effect that Red Flag did not take into account. As you may be aware, cardamine alters the genetic structure of those who use it. Even just one use is enough to alter genetic code. If what we believe is correct, then whatever Red Flag has created will not only kill Outcasts, but also has the potential to kill anyone else who has taken a hit of cardamine. You, Mr. Deckard, could be carrying the means to destroy millions, if not billions, of people throughout the Sirius Sector, many of those innocent people whose only crime was that they tried cardamine once in their lives. In short, whether knowingly or unknowingly, you have become a party to genocide, not only to the Outcasts, but possibly many more innocent people throughout the colonies. Do you want that on your hands?"
Deckard sat back and looked at Rianna. It was a long time before he spoke.
"Look, despite what you think, I don't want to see innocent people die. But what if you're wrong? This delivery is a pretty big payday for me."
"Believe me, we want to be wrong. All I'm asking is that you come with us to a safe place where we can test the contents of the case. If we're wrong, we'll send you on your way with our apologies. If we're right, then it is imperative we do not let this case go to Malta, or anywhere else for that matter." Rianna paused for a moment. "This is important, Mr. Deckard, and we need your cooperation."
"Let me get this straight, just so I have a great story to tell my friends. You're telling me that you believe Samuel Maddox gave me this case so I could be the destroying angel of the Outcasts and maybe a few million others?"
"That's more or less right, but with one minor change."
"And what's that?"
"It wasn't Samuel Maddox who gave you the case."
Edited by - neuromancer on 8/9/2005 7:42:03 AM
Chapter 6
Deckard sat in silence trying to contain the uneasiness that was beginning to grow inside of him. Here he was sitting across from two representatives of one of the most feared terrorist groups in all of Sirius, and they wanted the damn case too. How crazy is this going to get? he thought to himself.
"I see from your reaction that you are familiar with the Order, or at least you think you are," Rianna said. "I assure you that not everything you have heard about us is true, and I think you'll come to realize that we are not who you think we are. Why don't you relax and have a drink on us." She motioned to the bartender, who came over to their table. He leaned over as she whispered something to him. He looked at Deckard for a moment, then returned to the bar. He came back several minutes later with three mugs of Rheinland Lager. Deckard stared at the mug for a moment. Rianna Blair watched his reaction with an amused look on her face.
"Relax, Mr. Deckard, it's only a drink. We haven't poisoned it."
Deckard stared at her for a moment, then picked up the mug and took a long pull at it.
"Now then," Rianna continued, "to business. As I mentioned before, we are very interested in the contents of that case you're carrying."
"You know," Deckard interrupted, "you're the third person today who has 'expressed interest' in this damn thing. What the hell is in the case that's so important?"
"We don't know exactly, but we have a pretty good idea of what it might be." Rianna handed a vid-pad to Deckard. "This video footage was smuggled out of a top-secret laboratory in Liberty space. It makes for interesting viewing."
Deckard watched as the video began to play. The picture was somewhat grainy, but he could make out most of the details. He watched as an unconscious man was wheeled on a gurney into a darkened room. The video seemed to skip a bit, and Deckard realized it had been edited. A medical robot pressed a hypo-injector to the man's neck and administered some kind of drug into the man, who began to sweat profusely. The video skipped again, and Deckard watched in horror as the man began to convulse violently. Blood began to ooze out of the man's skin. The video skipped again and showed the man, now dead, lying in a pool of blood, hardly recognizable, as it appeared the man's skin had literally melted off of his body. Deckard, who had seen men die many times, was doing his best not to vomit at the horrid sight. Rianna watched him intently, gauging his reaction.
"As you can see, the video was edited heavily, but you can see the time stamp on it. It took nearly an hour for this man to die an excruciatingly painful death."
"What in God's name does that to a person?" Deckard asked in a low whisper, still disturbed from what he had just seen.
"The man in the video was an Outcast," Rianna answered, "and was unlucky enough to be a guinea pig in a very unpleasant experiment. Are you familiar with Project Red Flag?"
"No."
"I thought not. Red Flag is a top-secret division of the Liberty military. So top-secret, in fact, that most of the high-level officials in Liberty government are unaware of its existence. In fact, it's believed that even President Jacobi is unaware about many of its operations."
"Well, that's comforting and all," Deckard said, "but what's that got to do with the case?"
"Red Flag's primary purpose when it was created was to defend Liberty from large-scale sabotage, terrorism, espionage, and so on. Kind of like a top-secret version of the LSF. However, it would seem that Red Flag has become so powerful that their top operatives believe they can operate above and beyond the bounds of Liberty government regulation. Which leads us to that case of yours.
"We believe that the contents of the case are some kind of biological or genetic agent created by Red Flag to specifically affect the altered genetic structure of the Outcasts, while leaving those with no genetic alterations unaffected. The agent attacks the cells at a genetic level and destroys them from within. Once the cellular integrity of the victim has been compromised, it's only a matter of time before the victim succumbs to a very painful death."
"So this Red Flag has created something to kill all the Outcasts. This is a bad thing? I personally don't have a problem killing Outcasts, especially if there's a million credits in it for me."
"The Outcasts are still human, Mr. Deckard, misguided as they are. I would think that the thought of the possibility of killing millions would be enough to convince you. Apparently I was wrong, but maybe some further explanation will change your mind. We believe that this agent has an unintended side effect that Red Flag did not take into account. As you may be aware, cardamine alters the genetic structure of those who use it. Even just one use is enough to alter genetic code. If what we believe is correct, then whatever Red Flag has created will not only kill Outcasts, but also has the potential to kill anyone else who has taken a hit of cardamine. You, Mr. Deckard, could be carrying the means to destroy millions, if not billions, of people throughout the Sirius Sector, many of those innocent people whose only crime was that they tried cardamine once in their lives. In short, whether knowingly or unknowingly, you have become a party to genocide, not only to the Outcasts, but possibly many more innocent people throughout the colonies. Do you want that on your hands?"
Deckard sat back and looked at Rianna. It was a long time before he spoke.
"Look, despite what you think, I don't want to see innocent people die. But what if you're wrong? This delivery is a pretty big payday for me."
"Believe me, we want to be wrong. All I'm asking is that you come with us to a safe place where we can test the contents of the case. If we're wrong, we'll send you on your way with our apologies. If we're right, then it is imperative we do not let this case go to Malta, or anywhere else for that matter." Rianna paused for a moment. "This is important, Mr. Deckard, and we need your cooperation."
"Let me get this straight, just so I have a great story to tell my friends. You're telling me that you believe Samuel Maddox gave me this case so I could be the destroying angel of the Outcasts and maybe a few million others?"
"That's more or less right, but with one minor change."
"And what's that?"
"It wasn't Samuel Maddox who gave you the case."
Edited by - neuromancer on 8/9/2005 7:42:03 AM
