"How much longer do you expect this "little walk" to take? I could just as easily create a warp gate if you told me where we are going, it would save us quite a great deal of time!" Fracois is obviously perturbed at being forced to walk the short distance to the garage, and seems more than willing to be vocal about it. One the flip side Pierre is walking quietly, almost sullenly, obviously still greiveing for his brother.

The garage is another mile or so down the road though you could easily take a roundabout way there and add an extra mile to the trip. The rain has finally let up and the western sky glows with the orange light of the sun refracting through the clouds.

Courier rolls his eyes and answers,

"We're going to Raider's shop. That's down the street from Big Al's Bakery and about 4 intersections away from Trader's Square... although since it's not square I'm not sure why they call it that. Maybe it used to be square."

"It's less than a minute away, but that's flying. Usually I pick up a couple dozen tons of metal or whatever James & Raider need and I fly it in. I'm not used to walking there."

"Anyway I'm all for Warping there. All that stuff with finding the ship and then dealing with the Aberrants took a lot out of me."

Doug glances at Adam and adds, "More the former than the later."

"Oh no!" Buzz growls. "Last time we warped I got dropped in the mud! Walkin's just fine, helps clear my arthritis anyway."

"Prob'ly zap us into an engine block or somethin'" he mumbles as they walk along.

After another half an hour the group finally arrives at the garage. The sun has set and the twilight gloom drives the remaining people from the streets unless they have buisness to attend to. The light from Boothe's workshop floods out into the street draws attention to the building.

As everybody enters the garage they see the workshop is covered by the partially assembled engine. Raider and Jimmy are nearly finished with the full dismanteling and are finalizing their notes. Gregory sits off in a corner quietly, trying to stay out of the way of the two mechanics.

As the foriegners take in the scene their jaws drop at the scattered pieces of the engine. Courier, Adam and Buzz can tell that Francois is about ready for another outburst.

Buzz takes it all in, including the Canadians' reaction without seeming the least bit surprised.

"How goes it? Ya' able to put it back together again? I gotta say, for somethin' that fell outta the sky this is lookin' a lot better than what I expected it ta look like."

"Boys, this here's the people that say they own the ship. They want their ship back and everythin' in it. Especially though, the poor pilot that got killed when it went down. That was this one's brother." he points to the particularly grief stricken Canadian. "So what's the story?"

Raider looks up from nearly the final task in the dismantling process. "Hey Buzz. Good to see ya." He nods to Adam and Courier as well before turning to the Frenchies.

"Gentlemen, welcome to the shop. I hope you don't mind that we've taken the engine apart. It was pretty busted up when we got it. Now that we're finishing up, I think Jimmy and I should be able to get it back together in somewhat better shape than we found it. In fact we might even be able to make it functional. We've got a fair amount of expertise in engineering between us." He smiles ruefully, "Of course that will take some time. Probably a day or so, maybe two at the most, if you want it functional enough to stick on another vehicle. Or we could probalby scrounge up a box or five if you just want to take the parts back as is. Everything part is accounted for that was attached to it when we got it."

He smiles and gestures at Buzz, "I hate to be indelicate given your loss, but there is some need to discuss price. We had to pay to get this engine, and then there were costs associated with retreaving the Flight Recorder as well, not to mention the danger we put ourselves in when investigating the crash. Given the circumstances I'm sure we can work out an equitable fee, Buzz there can handle the negotiations. Meanwhile, why don't you make yourselves comfortable, and we'lll see if we can't scare up some refreshments."

Adam moves off to the side a little; given that one of the K-bekers was talking about opening his own Warp, he wants to be ready to grab something heavy, just in case. "Um, Raider? I think we should just give them the flight recorder. I mean, it's not going to do us any good, is it? And I wouldn't mind playing assistant to you for tomorrow to put this thing back together, if it'll help get it built."

Raider frowns at Adam's suggestion. "Well, I'll let Buzz work out the details on the payment. If he wants to throw in the flight recorder that's fine. It would be bad business to give away too much for free though, especially since it cost us to aquire these things."

Buzz nods at this and shrugs.

"Well boys, to be honest we ain't exactly gone over the price or anything. It ain't exactly been that kind of conversation. If our neighbors though would be so kind we could talk about the ship and such, and what they know of it. We still ain't confirmed who owns it, that flight recorder might help out with that. Ya' got something to drink?"

Raider points at a doorway, "Drinks in there." He goes back to working on the engine, but continues to speak, "As for ownership, it doesn't really matter to me if these gentlemen are the original owners of the airship. We've gone to personal expense and put ourselves in danger for the sake of recovering these items. They can't expect to just walk in and take this stuff away with them without at least covering our expenses."

It looks like the owners are here. I hope we get something out of this Gregory thought to himself, looking as inconspicuous as possible. Maybe I'll follow them after they leave. At least for a while.

Gregory makes it look like he is concentrating on assembling several small pieces of metal, but is really listening to the conversation between the strangers and the rest of the crew.

Doug takes in all this stuff thrown about the shop not quite blankly. He nods approvingly at the topic of price, now things are going in the right direction. He reaches over and picks up a good sized chunk of high density metal from the discard/rubbish bin and absentmindedly starts to shape it with his bare hands. The metal gives a not constant wail as it is shaped into a spearhead.

Pierre grabs Francois and hauls him out of the garage into the street. Although you can all hear them yelling its hard to make out the words enough for the French speakers among you to know what is being said.

After a short while they reenter and Pierre speak up, "We thank you for recovering what wreckage you could, we will gladly compensate you what we can. Please bear in mind however that our government's relations with your are strained right now and that any gesture that could be made on your parts would be well recieved by our leaders.

"I understand however," he continues forestalling any interruption, "That you and yours must also feel the same way, in the intrest of not destabilizing the region further we are prepared to compromise with you and work with you as needed to determine who absconded with my brother's body and the cockpit of the aircraft."

Raider appears to consider their words carefully, then smiles slightly. "In the interest of the future relations between our governments I'm sure we can come to an agreement of some kind." He nods to Buzz, "We'll start putting this engine back together very shortly, I guarantee it will be in better shape than when we received it."

Raider thinks to Courier, "Pass this on to Buzz if you don't mind. Tell him to negotiate for the plans to the rest of the ship if we are expected to help them find squidboy. Don't let them off too easy though and try to stress to them that tracking down someone powerful enough to teleport the fuselage of that ship will be very dangerous. Be sure to give us some sliding room too, promising to find something is alot different than promising to retrieve it after all. If they want us to retreive it that should cost them much more than just pointing them in the right direction. But hey at least they aren't trying to boss us around now. That's a good start."

He grins where the frenchies can't see him, "and tell him that I've got confidence he can have them eating out of the palm of his hand. Heck maybe we can even build a stronger peace treaty between our nations over this."

I guess they are coming with us. The thought almost made him sad, but it was easier to keep track of them this way, so he was not too upset. He would make sure that he kept himself as inconspicuous as was necessary, but also as informed as possible. He had learned that most people were not to be trusted. These two strange speaking people were not to be trusted.

Courier forwards the message to Buzz, then he eyes Gregory and sends to him...

*Just relax and let Buzz take the lead. This is a negotiation, there will be a lot of verbal positioning and maybe even some lying. They will try to take advantage of our ignorance I think... don't let them know some of us speak French.*

Raider responds, "Sounds good to me. I'll listen and share what they say."

Adam, now that he knows the powerful manipulator is on the case, picks up a wrench and starts helping putting parts back together, following directions from Jimmy or Raider.

Buzz nods in approval, finally it seems that they were getting somewhere.

"OK neighbors, I think we're makin' some progress here. So, first thing's first, this will go a long way to figuring out what we gotta do here."

"Do ya' have some way of provin' to our satisfaction that this is your ship, or rather your engine? Like an ID number or somethin'? They used to have those before the Burn. That way we'll know we ain't handin' over stuff that doesn't belong to you any more than it does to us. That squid guy seemed pretty adamant it was his too. So you got anything like that? That'd be great, just basically show us that it's yours, and then we'll start talkin' price and repair and returning OK? All nice and friendly like."

"Well it would seem that you should be the ones to start the ..." he searches for the word, "Bargaining, yes? As far as proof of ownership I would imagine that all you need to do is listen to the flight recorder, which I assume you have done already, and you will recognise my own voice on said recording."

"Hey...sounds reasonable. We got that recording? Let's take a listen." Buzz offers as he leans on a shop table. "What the...?" he exclaims as he looks at his hands after they stuck to an oily part on the table. He searches around for a rag or something to wipe his hands on. "Ralphie! Gimme a towel!" he bellows.

Adam grins, and tosses a rag at Buzz. "Catch, old timer."

"Thanks." says Buz as he fumbles to catch the rag at least three times before he finally manages it. He wipes his hands on the rag and then scratches his nose, smearing a black stain on the end of it from a spot on his finger that he missed. He's unaware though as he waits for the recording.

Doug hadn't paid attention to the voice on the recording, not when it was talking in a language he couldn't understand. He doesn't pay much attention now either, but instead keeps watching the k-bec people. Perhaps their reaction will be informative.

Raider will listen in as the recording plays and watches the Frenchies. If he does hear that the frenchie present is the voice on the recording he will acknowledge their claim to it, but not without consessions on their part. However, he's not really in it to make profit, he just wants the frenchie's to act respectfully and not expect us to go into danger for their benefit without reward.

Buzz seems to be pondering something for a few moments (or maybe his mind is just wandering) before he finally speaks up.

"Say...why don't you let us know what you were saying on that recording before we hear it? That way we got two ways of checking. It'll have to match what you said and the sound of your voice. Sound good?"

Pierre gives Buzz a wry look, the kind of look that says You have got to be kidding me. "I hate to break it to you but I can no sooner recall specifically what I said that you could, I'm not a nova and I don't have an perfect memory. You claim to have recovered the voice box from the wreckage directly, as such when would I have had time to fake my voice?"

Buzz matches the look. "Ain't that hard what I'm askin'. Were ya' talkin' weather patterns, flight instruments, the cans on that doll livin' down the street? Maybe lookin' for a specific phrase or sometin', or just the general gist of it. I don't mean to impose on your loss, but I remember exactly the last thing I said to my boys the day they disappeared, and the day my wife finally died from cancer. You do that, and I'm sure we won't have any doubts."

Gregory listens patiently as Buzz negotiates with the two K-bec'ers. He pondered getting involved in the negotiations, but decided to leave it to Buzz for now. Hopefully, everything would be in their favor, because Gregory was hungry an needed something to exchange for food.

Doug watches Buzz at work...

"GAH! You ..." Pierre strangles himself quiet before bursting out again, "You say that we need to be more flexible in our requests yet you expect me to jump through hoops to prove that all of this belongs to ME! I have given you a method beyond a doubt capable of determining my link to this craft and yet you ask for more, we expect the timely return of our equipment and all you do is stall and argue!

"You claim to have disassembled the engine in order to repair it and yet I cannot dismiss from my view the detailed drawings and engineering notes you have taken. You and your friends are all too eager to steal my brother's work and are using every excuse and trick you can to delay giving us our rightful property. It's no wonder that our government suggested that we not fly this south!!"

Adam looks at the French guy, and then at Buzz. "He almost has a point. I mean, it's not like we could have recovered their craft from the middle of some frozen-over bay." He frowns, then glances around at the world knowledgeable folks. "They do have those up north, right? Bays, inlets, that freeze over in wintertime? Or is it like my cousin Berto said, that it's all an unending frozen wasteland of snow and polar bears?" He puts back together a couple of pieces, and hands them to Boothe.

Raider decides to step it, "Relax, I'm convinced. I've listened to the recording and your voice does sound like the one there, though I am not saying I understand what is being said, I do recognize the voice."

He smiles placatingly, "I don't think you need to prove any further. As for the engine being disassembled... Yes, we've made detailed drawings, and I plan to make further detailed drawings of anything else we come across in the course of helping you out, that is IF we decide to help you out. Given the danger our people have put ourselves in to recover this and the flight recorder, it's the least that we deserve in compensation."

Buzz shrugs and leans back on the table, right in the sticky spot again, which he ignores this time.

"If they're satisfied, then I'm satisfied. Again, I'm sorry for your loss, and I don't want you to jump through no hoops. This thing here is precious, we all know that. And we ain't gonna keep it from the rightful owners, but you can see how important it is that we find the rightful owners right? You wouldn't want us just givin' it away to anyone that saw it crash or paid the right price would ya'?" Buzz's expression softens. "Would you?" he asks again softly.

"Now why don't we cut out the threats and insults. We ain't given you any of those, and we ain't tried trickin' you. Let's get down to returnin' this to you, and giving somethin' to the ones that rescued what we did of it, and also findin' the rest of it. Down here, we usually don't threaten or insult the ones we're tryin' to get help from." Buzz gently rebukes them, hoping they'll see the imposition they've put on the group.

Buzz and the frenchmen discuss the transaction of the engine and any other wreckage that might be found for what seems like hours. Gregory, Adam and Courier are able to rest and cook a bite to eat for the group. Meanwhile Raider and Jimmy are able to complete the re-assembly of the engine.

Finally the older man and the frenchmen agree to terms. The group returns the engine and the "black box" to the frenchmen with the understanding that they will pass any futher items recovered in the future. In return the frenchmen provide detailed schematics for the entire ship.

Although Raider feels that he could re-create the engine even he agrees that the deal is sound, the design of the craft itself including the fuel system will save him months off of the build time should he decide to try and create one of these vehicles.

Can you make an engineering roll for Raider to see if he can notice any improvements that could be made to the plane based on the plans and the direct knowledge of the engine that he has seen. If he does notice anything he will share it will the K-bekkers in thanks for the maple syrup. I figure with as much engineering as he has he should have a decent chance to notice something even if its just a small improvement.

To be more specific. Raider has spent the last two days studying the blueprints of the craft as well as the technical drawings he and Jimmy made of the engine. He is trying to analyze their weaknesses to see what might be able to improve on. He also has spent several hours each day meditating and trying to review in his mind every bit of technical knowledge he has hoping that it might jog his brain into presenting solutions to his studies and analysis.

During downtime, Gregory will spend most of his time distantly eavesdropping on converstions. He will listen to conversations behind doors, and focus on using his hearing to guide him around in the dark. He will try and develope the keen hearing levels that his friend once had, in order to help he and his new friends survive. Hopefully, Gregory will pick up information along the way that might be useful.