Later that same evening after returning from Goodwood

Ralphie pushes his plate away and stands up, "If you'll not be needing me sir," he says to Buzz, "I'll head home now. I have scoolwork to do and Mrs. White can get terrible mean if we don't have our work done." Buzz dismisses the boy who scampers quickly out of the house.

Buzz starts and then immediately starts grumbling, "Stupid kids..." as he realizes that Ralphie's dirty plate and other dishes are still on the table.

Courier, Buzz, Adam, Raider and Gregory sit around a large woodne dining table in Raider's home. The table was trade for Raider from a carpenter who's power tools he repaired and installed into the man's workshop.

A massive table, it sports what can best be described as a massive meal. The kind of meal only a group of novas could demolish so thouroughly. Turkey, ham, roast beef, green beans, carrots, potatoes, a fresh baked apply pie from Susan Landry's kitchen, and much much more. All of it reduced to crumbs, scraps of fat, or the kind of leftovers that might make Raider a light snack come morning.

They all sit there, feeling better, feeling full. It is a sensation that Gregory cannot ever remember feeling before, and that Adam hasn't felt since long before he erupted. It reminds Buzz of the last "real" Thanksgiving he ever had, the year before the burn. Luckily the memory stays that and doesn't rear it's ugly head, his quantum now restored and the effects of the null-field long gone.

Raider sits fiddling with an old laptop, reading texts on quantum theory he scavenged from an old university. He is busy trying it figure out how Johnny could do what he could do. His current best guess it that it is impossible, clearly his guess is far from correct.

Courier alone bears the weight of the day. Not only is he still brooding over KB's disappearance, but he is nursing some bruses and a headache. His eufiber, vampiric in nature, had aparently been drained of its quantum and forced into a state of stasis by the null-field. When it recovered it immediately began draining Doug and leeched some of his life force to fill it's reserves.

Still he felt better, he was bruised but that would fade soon enough, a good night's rest should be enough. He had gotten a meal that filled him, a task that few meals could boast. He sat around the table with the others, slumped really, with their eyes half lidded, only Raider doing more than just relaxing.

Suddenly his link was forced open, something Doug was not even aware was possible. Normally he could choose to talk to somebody or not, but this was different, it was like somebody had kicked down the door to his mind and walked in.

* .... Doug, HEL...* it started in the familiar mental "voice" of KB. It was however quickly cut off, the sensation replaced by an oily feeling, like dunking one's hand into a pool of water with a skim of oil floating over it.

* ... Mr. ... Courier, is it? ... Yes, that's right Courier ... You do have a fine... taste, in women ... very tasty, yes ... I could almost eat her up ... perhaps I will ... Mr. Courier you and your freinds have something of mine ... a certain ... device, which you stole from my ship .... I want it back ... much like I assume you want your lovely freind back ...perhaps we can trade, yes? ... yes I thought you might agree ... I think you know where you can find me ... bring the device ... oh, and don't delay ... my ... associates and I aren't used to ... company such as hers ...*

The link slams shut and Courier feels like he's been hit in the forehead with a sledgehammer. He reels backward reflexively and topples heels over head onto the floor.

Raider puts the laptop back on the table and dives toward Courier to see if he can help. Using all the medical training and knowledge he's gathered, he looks Courier over for any obvious signs of injury or attack. He even tries his best to extend his quantum abilities toward Courier in an attempt to do what he can for him.

The sound of a body hitting the floor wakes Gregory from his food-fueled daze. What was that about? Gregory thinks to himself. maybe he passed out from all the yummy food.

After a few seconds, however, Gregory realizes that something is wrong when Raider runs over to Courier. Gregory stands up and looks over the table to see if his new friend is OK.

"Is he ok?" Gregory asks with concern. "Does he have the ep'leptisee thingy?"

Adam, not knowing the attack was telepathic in nature, leaps to his feet, races out the door, and starts scanning the immediate area for a threat. With his trademark bombs at the ready, he probably (accidentally) scares a few of the townsfolk, especially when there's no visible threat to Courier in the area. He'll back inside, still scanning the street, and ask Raider (or Courier, if he's back up), "What the hell happened?"

Buzz comes back from the kitchen, his hands sheathed in rubber gloves and wearing an apron where he'd been doing some dishes despite everyone's protest that he relax. He's got a plate in one hand and a soap-laden sponge in the other.

"What the Hell's goin' on! What did I tell you boys about fightin'?" he snaps and then takes an actual look around. "What's with Courier?" he asks in a more concerned tone.

Adam scans the street, he sees a few people out on late errands or returning from gaurd duty near the Wall. The night is crisp, cold really, with the first hints of winter coming. The sky is clear and a large nearly full moon shines sliver light down upon the town. His fists seething with quantum energies held barely in check, his eyes pools of incandecence, Adam establishes that all is clear outside before re-entering the house.

Doug comes to a realization. *I'm on my back. Someone is shinning a light into my eye. Eyes.*

Cleverly Doug opens his mouth and says,

"Ow..."

He thinks, *Got beat up? I thought trading would avoid this sort of thing... Squidward! KB!*

A little more aware, Doug says,

“HEY!!!”

*Brilliant.*

“Ah, ahem.”

Doug shakes off any assistance and comes to his feet.

“That was KB again. Squidward’s got her, he used her to get into my head and talk.”

Doug starts to pace in an agitated manner,

“He said, he had KB, and he wants to trade her for what we took from the ship. Slimy bastard. He said he has friends, called them his “associates”, sounded like abbies. Wanted to trade at… at…”

Doug growls,

“He didn’t say. His exact words were, ’I think you know where you can find me…” Oh, and he called it “his ship” again. A device which we stole from his ship. And he threatened to eat her.”

"Sit him up." says Buzz to the others "Give him some water." Buzz fumbles the gloves off and gets tangled up in the apron as he tries to remove it. Finally managing both tasks he heads over to Courier.

"You OK boy? Squiddy called? He's got KB? Did you get anything else? A noise, a sight? Some kinda clue? Think hard now."

"What'd we take outta the ship? The black box? That's gotta tell us where to find him."

Adam frowns. "Ok, we got the black box - which does a pretty damn good job of proving that the guys from K-Bek launched it. Plus, the last known signal we got from KB was south of here, which is where the crash site was. But, I thought Courier flew that route and didn't find anything, right?" He stops, and scratches a bald eyebrow for a moment. "Am I missing anything important? I'm thinking he's somewhere not too far off the flight path that he would have seen the crash site, which is how he beat us there. What I don't know is how we're going to find him if Courier didn't see his hideout before."

He looks over at Raider. "Could we whip up a convincing fake in a day or so? Then, I suppose we could start at the crater and work our way back slowly - as a group - to try and find him." He frowns again, his eyes shimmering. "That's if he's not waiting for us at the crater."

"I'm sure I could make one, but it wouldn't have the info on it which is what Squidward really wants. We do have that info though, or at least a transcript of it. and the blueprints to build another one. We could offer Squidy a copy of those, and if this can be acomplished without getting KB killed, I say lets wipe em off the face of the earth." Raider looks grim as he says it. "I will try to sneak in there incorporeal and underground and come up and grab KB if I can to get her out of harms way, so you guys can blast the hell out of the abbies. Sound good?"

"You sure you want to do that?" Gregory asks Raider. "Because it is not going to be that easy. They not just let walk in and take her" For a change, Gregory decides that he will be candid.

"They are powerful. Probably more powerful than us. They will be prepared for negotiatin' then shootin'. We all die." Gregory's hands were animated, as he spoke in a calm and articulate (for him) manner.

"We need to trick them more than with just black box. Brutish forces sound like fun, and we can do that. I say we first weaken them so they don't kill us."

"We make them think that a couple of us are going to meet them and make the exchange. When Squidward gets close, we drain him of his powers. When squid have no power, he surrenders."

"Since I can shut off my own powers, I go with new friend from other town. I am probably not drained. Once they drained, I hide and move to safe place. Then make beasties to attack bad guys as you also attack. Out friend probably die...it will be sad."

Doug says,

"He's a telepath... he might demand he read our mind... for that matter, did he really steal the ship, or did we just think that he did?"

Adam opens his mouth to respond, then closes it. "Damn, that is a good point. But I think Gregory has a good idea too. You spoke to the guy who drains power. Do you think you could, say, take the Jeep through a Warp, and then drive him to the crater, now that you know where everything is? If we ... hold him in reserve, to jump in next to Squiddy after he shows up, it'll give us a better chance to grab him." Adam taps his fingers on his thigh. "I think I'd better go with you. I'm going to need to find out if my bombs vanish by going past him."

Doug thinks a moment then says,

"He can't go through a gate, and he's probably 250 miles away from the crash site. It'd take weeks to get there, and he'd have to leave his taint hospital aberrants on their own, which I don't think he'd be willing to. Heck, if I were him I'd be unwilling to, just because of the distance."

"Of course we could take Squidward to him. Open the gate where you did before, above the building..."

Doug gets an evil grin.

"No, open it above but next to the building. He falls way, way down, loses his juice on the way, then hits. Then one of us goes through another gate out of reach of the building."

"But that's wishfull thinking. KB... Arrg. I told KB where the crash site was. I'll bet she went there and found the ship and Squidward. This is my fault."

Courier is really unhappy at that latest thought.

Raider speaks up, "I think our best bet is a combination of tactics. See if we can talk hospital guy into helping out, that is if he can turn off his power long enough to get through a warp. Otherwise, I'm still up for sneaking in underground and trying to grab KB. We also give him what he wants, which is the plans and the info from the recorder both, no tricks in that. Keep him distracted enough that I can get close to KB and grab her. If necessary I can drag her underground all the way back to town." Raider smacks his head. "You said he's a telepath, I wonder if he can detect me underground. Last time he didn't notice me inside the ship though so that's a good sign."

Raider puts on his thinking cap and tries to analyse any weaknesses in the plans they are coming up with.

"Let me talk to him." volunteers Buzz. "You boys come up with some good plans. He can try to read my mind if he wants, but I definitely can tell you he won't find anything. I got 80 years a' memories up here." he said as he tapped his noggin with a finger. "Readin' my mind is not a good idea, especially lately with what I been goin through. I'll talk to him and keep him distracted, I can take care of myself. When you see your chance, you drop the warp under him and we'll land him on the hospital. It ain't too nice what we're doing to our new neighbors, but I can smooth it out with 'em. Sound good?"

Doug shakes his head and says,

"I'm pretty sure he can't turn it off. I didn't ask specifically, but that was my impression. He's had it on for months without a break and I don't think he can even tell what he's doing. Worse, even if he can, one of us would have to lose all our juice just to ask him."

"Squidward thinks we have the box. He's not going to wait days, at best we have hours."

Doug pauses, visibly settles down, and says,

"We could just give him the other box. Trade it for KB. He doesn't know we had two, he probably didn't see the original. We could also break it and take the transcripts with us."

"Or we could put the dead box on top of or next to that hospital? Could we do both, Raider, could you make a copy of the box good enough to fool visual examination at a few meters?"

So... plan 'A' is, we take the old box and let Buzz try to trade it for KB? If we need to we open a warp gate to the other box inside the dead zone, and if we really need to we could try the transcrips. Or kill them.

"I don't think he can drain me if I'm dormed" Gregory says to the others. "I can speak to him about turning it off to help us."

"Better yet, we trick him into beleving this Squidward is crazy and needs help. Tell him to enter through the portal when we open it, to heal sick aberrants. He comes to where KB is, then turns on power and drain Squid and all his friends. We laugh and point and then take KB and ship. Then we kill them...maybe." Gregory gives a curious smile, with a glimmer of deviousness in his eyes.

"If he can't turn it off we bring Squid to him."

Doug continues,

"I wouldn't bet he can't get to you dormed, and we'd be risking your powers for the next several hours. And I don't want him next to KB. If one of those abbies has a knife to KB's neck, having her lose her powers would be lethal. Chances are good at least some of us would lose our gifts as well. And on top of all that mistreating him will mess up our trade deal."

"But I wouldn't mind facing Squidward with no powers in the dead zone." Doug holds up his fingers like a gun and says softly, "bang".

"But I'd rather have KB back than him dead."

"I agree with Courier, after thinking it over, I don't believe the hospital guy is the answer."

Raider pauses for a sec thinking, "I can mock up a box that will fool him at a short distance, but what if he has the abilitiy to tell you are lying just looking at you? Some novas can."

Doug answers,

"Then we're messed up."

A light bulb goes off above Doug's head and he cheers up.

"Wait, he's still dealing with us so he can't be all that great. He met several of us, if he were able to read minds at a distance, then he'd just have read ours and know we don't have it. He'd have read Jimmy's to see what we found."

"So... what? He can project thoughts but not probe? What does projecting thoughts do for you, Mind Control? Mental Illusion? Did I hear him, or did I just think that I heard him?"

"Raider, make your box. We'll put some rope around it and drop it on to the hospital roof. We'll also bring the real box as backup... well, the real one that we still have. Then if we really have to we can give him the names of those French guys."

Raider thinks for a sec. "Yah, know I think it's a good plan, except for one thing. Dropping Squidy on the hospital roof wouldn't be all that neighborly of us. Not unless we warn them ahead of time what we are doing and arrange a sufficently hot welcome for squidy when he arrives, like half the town standing around with large caliber rifles perhaps."

Doug replies,

"Right, and the one thing we told them we wouldn't do is tell people about them so their problems get dumped on them. ... The only reason I can see us actually trying something like that, I mean and having it work, is if he's got hooks into KB. Take her there and any links would be broken."

"So skip the fake box mock up, we already have the other one. So what else do we need? I've got some extra ammo, a couple of guns, and a flack jacket back at my place."

"Do you have ammo for me?" Gregory asks innocently. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out an empty .38 and 2 bullets. "I only have 2 bullets for it."

Courier says to Raider,

“OK, I’ll go round up gear. You get things ready on your end including the tools.”

(Doug will maintain the link with Raider to make sure he’s not either missing equipment or bringing the wrong stuff or whatever).

Courier flies off to his pad and then flies back an hour later with a number of bags and a coffin.

He tosses a small bag to Gregory with the comment, “I use 45s anyway.” In it Gregory will find 10 more 38 caliber bullets. The larger bag he gives to Raider, in it there are components to what a skill craftsman could turn into a Kevlar vest. Yet another bag produces a dozen 5 pound primitive metal globes about the size of baseballs.

Finally Doug opens up the coffin. Inside lies a suit of metal armor, shining bluely in the light. It looks solid, in a frying pan sort of way. Doug pinches his nose, not only is his headache still with him but looking at the suit is obviously not a favorite thing for him either. He then takes out the pieces and checks them out. To take his mind off his various troubles he comments,

“Here it is, “Courier’s Albatross”. This was my first big purchase, before even the house. It weighs a lot, cost a lot, is hard to put on and take off, took several weeks to build, is heavy, uncomfortable, makes going to the bathroom embarrassing, has a tendency to squeak. The funny part is I knew that when I ordered it. In theory it should stop a bullet, even a good sized one. This here is good metal, and there’s lots of it. In practice during the two months I actually used it even the possibility only came up but once, and that one time I flew away. Come to think of it, that involved KB too.”

“And then I got a good suit of Eufiber, and found out that no one really wants a four or five hundred pound suit of armor. Maintenance on this thing is a pain in the ass. If you’re strong enough to wear it you’re also strong enough to bend the metal if you flex wrong. It bends back, but still. It’s a lot more bearable with Eufiber to prevent it from chaffing and to supply hooks and the like, but if you have Eufiber then you don’t need the armor to start with.”

With no small help from the Eufiber, the 12 metal balls clip into a belt, the bandoleer of spearheads fit over the chest piece, and the hand gun Courier carries is holstered on his hip. Oddly the glove on his right hand has the palm side mostly removed, presumably for gripping or picking up things. Walking around Doug leaves footprints. Fully assembled and worn, the armor is big, bulky, and gives the appearance of solidity… or maybe makes him look like a giant toy solider, you're not sure which. The helmet prevents ready eye contact and manages to make him look both more serious and more ridiculous.

Raider will get the box ready to go and put it in a bag. In a folder he'll place a copy of the transcript of the original box in case they need to trade it. He'll take a pistol if there is one available for him and familiarize himself with it. Then he'll look at the Kevlar pieces and see if they can be easily put together to form any protection, and if they can he'll spend a few minutes doing that, if not he'll save it for later. Lastly, he'll hand the bag to Courier or Adam once they are ready to go, and become incorporeal before they go through the warp.

Gregory smiles to Courier and begins to load his pistol. "Thank you for the ammo."

Gregory then removes his shirt, leaving him with only a pair of shorts. He puts the pistol in his pocket and then speaks to the others about his strategy.

"I cans sneak in ahead of you and find KB. Then when she found, I send to you and you make trade. If they not nice, I make big monster to attack their backs."

"If they catch me, I will tell them I'm hungry and looking for food. I don't think Squid saw me before at crash."

Gregory smiles with a devious grin on his face. "That sound good...right."

((OOC: Using Manipulation to persuade them to let him scout ahead.))

Buzz listens in on the plans nodding where appropriate. To be honest he was kind of lost, his mind had wandered a bit. What was it they wanted him to do?

"So...um just give me what I need and get me to where I'm supposed to go and I'll take it from there. We'll get back...KB! You bet!"

Recently he felt that he had gotten a grasp of his memories more, and they were even sharper, without being a threat, but now he had to create a kind of filing system or they would clutter his mind, not an attack but a bit of confusion.

Adam concentrates and a bright horizontal slash appears just above the floor of Raider's garage. It quickly widens into a pair of grey steel doors which flop open revealing Adam's signature warp. Gregory drops through and immediately goes prone and activates his chameleon ability. Within seconds his is nearly indistinguishable from the forest floor.

Adam allows the doors to collapse upon themselves and reality heaves a sigh as space time returns to its normal state. Within the garage all is quiet as they wait to hear from Gregory. Adam tried to put him within a mile of the crash site so that it would be less likely that he would be discovered.

Buzz sits nearby trying to contain the vast array of his memories. He has been working his mind more in the recent days and it seems to be helping to improve is memory. Unfortunately it also works both ways and while he can more clearly remember evenst 50 years past he can also more clearly remember those events which continue to haunt him 50 years later.

Raider is fiddling with something nervously, he has gathered the needed equipment and notes though a twinge of guilt runs through the back of his mind. Squidward will be able to determine who built the craft in the same way that he and Jimmy had. It worries Raider that they may be selling the Frenchies in order to win back KB.

Courier is pacing back and forth, he is unable to sit because the added weight of the suit is too great for any of Raider's furniture and besides he's too restless. Who know's what Squiddy has done to KB in the past 4 ro 5 days?

Adam squats nearby watching his freinds and waiting, of the 4 of them he is bar far the most comfortable in a fight and the least worried overall about the situation at hand.

*****

Elsewhere Gregory begins to move heading in the direction he thinks the crash site should be. In order to maintain his camoflage he has to move at a reduced rate by he is still able to cross the mile or so between the warp and the crash site withnin15 minutes.

As he approaches the gash in the earth where the plane's fusalage once rested he hear something. He cannot yet see the crash site but he thinks that there may be something or somebody already there.

Gregory pushes a tiny bit of quantum into hearing the distant noises. His hyper-sense of hearing, will focus on picking out where, how many, and location of the someones' who are there. Also, he will pay attention to any conversations about the group or KB.

"Hungry ... rumbly tum-tum, hungry ..." Gregory hears a low gutteral voice repeating over and over. He inches closer and peers over a rise to finally look down at the crash site.

"Quiet you fool!! You'll get your snackies soon enough, but only if you shut your mouth." Another voice hisses out to the first. This sounds far more 'human' than the first although Gregory is finding it difficult to see the source of either voice.

The first voice goes quiet after a whispered "... meanie ..." from the first voice leaving Gregory with no indication of the source of either. He takes a moment to survey the crash site.

The rains of recent days have begun to dry but the scarred terrain is still muddy and the depression is slightly filled with water and thick muck. Other than the damaged group there appears to be nothing out of the ordinary about this section of the forest.

Where are they? Gregory thinks to himself. They musts be cam'flaged like me. Maybe I see them with my hearing.

Gregory once again pushed quantum through his node. This time he sends out waves of ultrasonic sound, which is above the wavelength where a normal person can hear. Where the sound bumps into something, he pieces together it's form so he can 'see' it. I hopes they not hear it too, He worries to himself.

After about five minutes Adam opens another warp to the opposite side of the crash site and allows Raider through in his intangible state. Allowing for his ability to move nearly invisbly by walking 90% submerged within the ground Raider takes up a position near the crash sitearound the same time that Gregory does.

Gregory lets out a chirp, much like a certain common bird for the area and tracks it's echos much like a bat would. Unfirtunately the forest is too dense to get any sort of sensible reading. He does determine that there are no invisible persons within the clearing caused by the crash site. If they are there they would be hunkered down within the wreckage of the downed trees.

Raider observes the area for a few moments and then continues to move forward toward the crater staying as deep into the ground as possible while still allowing from breathing and sight. He quickly takes a position within the mud and water within the crater.

Gregory didn't find anyone who was standing around camoflaged or invisible, and it worried him. He knew there were at least two people there and maybe KB. He had to find out.

Stripping himself completely naked, and with only his pistol in his hand, Gregory stealthily began to circle around the crash site. He moved closer with each step, while he listened for breathing sounds.

If the link is open. *People here talking about hungry and waiting for snackies. They waiting for someone. Ambush maybe? Can't see them. Don't see KB. Moving closer to look.

Courier says to Adam and Buzz,

"Gregory hears someone there. Several someones, talking about food and being hungry. He can't see them and he doesn't hear or see KB."

Courier forwards what Gregory sent to Raider and then tries to contact KB again. If(When) he is unsuccessful he rotates the link between Raider and Gregory.

Raider will move around the site looking into likely hiding places like the downed trees and such. He will also keep his eyes open in case anyone might be in the air. Since there is a slight possibility that he might be seen he will also duck completely underground and move a few feet, come up and look around, and repeat. He will also look for anyone that might be concealed in a pit or tunnel.

Buzz stays quiet and crouches low, hoping his clumsiness doesn't foul up things. Meanwhile he's trying a strange mental exercise, he's dredging up old memories, and at the same time forcing them back down. Almost as if he's teasing the wild animal of his vicous flashbacks.

*Alright, stay calm, that's probably an ambush, we don't want to talk to no one but Squiddy. Let us know when youfind him.*

Adam frowns slightly, mumbling under his breath and counting things out on his fingers. "If we know for sure that KB's not with them, then I'm going to need Gregory to tell me exactly where they are, and then get the hell out. I'm not going to play nice. But after I unload a bomb full of whoop ass on them, I'm going to borrow Raider's cot in the back. Cool?" He addresses the last word to Raider.

((Once Adam has a location, Analyze Weakness roll to figure out a good height/angle to get in one round of surprise Q-bolts.))

Courier almost slams his hands together but stops himself at the last moment.

He says,

"Right", and continues to monitor and relay information.

At the crash site Raider and Gregory complete their stealthy searches of the area. Both are certain that they have not compromised their own stealth but neither hve they found anything. Half an hour passes in the near silence of the deep forest.

*****

Back at the shop Courier, Buzz and Adam wait for word of something but neither Gregory nor Raider has anything to report.