Zeton hurries to catch up to Mey after double checking to make sure he has all his gear, "I understand the desire to capture or destroy the Relay, but do we understand the consequences of that yet? Is it possible to rescue Adulie and destroy the Relay at the same time? What exactly is your plan?"
Mey'Luskar gives him a quizzical look.
"If you think I'm planning to go marching into a cave full of big, ugly lizard things right now...," she snaps.
Widjgleeby glowers down at her.
One could almost hear the air rushing out as she deflates. "Um...I'll stick with the caves full of good lizard things!" She gives the Farbett her most charming smile.
Widjgleeby looks away again.
Mey'Luskar sighs. "Anyway, I don't have a plan. I'm just following you guys. I just had a hunch that I should ask her that. Just in case."
As the party heads down the stairs, the Fasion pleads for them to wait and hustles to move ahead of them as quickly as her short legs will allow. Once in front, she assumes an air of rather uncertain authority and says, "Follow me!" Then she proceeds to lead the group around through the cavernous main parlor, down to the basement, and over to a stairway no one in the party has seen yet.
When the group starts to descend this last stairway, the clattering of someone running can be heard. Turning to look, the party sees Atraktu approaching. The Ahmonite halts a short distance away and bows to the floor.
"My lord orders Atraktu to serve brave sisters," she says anxiously.
There is some muttering in the party, but Bina expresses her understanding. The Ahmonite then takes up a position next to the disgraced priestess.
The group continues down. The Fasion turns on the lights at the bottom, revealing a dank cellar full of trash. The Fasion calls out a word that doesn't translate.
A Farbett voice demands, "What's this about?"
"The mystic gives these people clearance to enter the tunnels!" cries the Fasion.
There is a pause. "They got guns! They got Yangae! Not good!"
"They have a pass!" retorts the Fasion.
Another pause. "Alright, then!" There is a shifting of the trash, and a female Farbett emerges. Without looking at the party, she heads deeper into the trash and starts digging through it madly, throwing items in all directions. After only a few seconds, a path is cleared to a door. The Farbett opens it and moves aside.
"There you go!" she says. "But they're not gonna like this!"
The Fasion moves aside and gestures toward the door. "Be successful!" she says.
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On the way down, Mon'Fargret finds Betham and fishes out five of the rune pages.
"If you believe in this stuff...I am of a branch to think so...then you should hold on to these to cover your side of our crew."
"To be honest," says Betham gravely, "if this had been a couple of days ago..." He takes the sheets very carefully. "Right now I'm not sure what to believe."
Zeton heaves a visible sigh of relief when he realizes Mey'Luskar is not going to try and destroy the Relay straight away and was only trying to learn more from Atraktu.
"OK, Mey, thanks for letting us know and once we have Adulie, I think trying to find the Relay is the next logical step to take." Zeton interrupts himself as they enter the dark cellar full of trash.
"Oh my goodness..." is all Zeton can say after watching the Farbett emerge from the pile of garbage and clear a path to the door.
Seeing the Farbett jostles something in Zeton's memory and he moves next to Widj to ask her a question, "Do you remember the Farbetts we met in the tunnels after we were attacked at Nekshi's appartment? What were their names? Gak'nok? Gek'nork? Who did they say they worked for? Andelfin, wasn't it?"
Zeton tries to keep alert to the new surroundings and ready to spring to action should the need arise, but he is clearly trying to remember something from the last couple of days that only now seems to becoming relevant to him.
Nekshi gestures affirmatively. "These Farbetts are slightly removed geographically but may still be under the same clan chief."
"Nekshi, I feel like we're missing something obvious and I think it has to do with the company Andelfin. Have you much experience with this company during your research?"
"The information I have on Andelfin is starting to correlate in a disturbing manner with the paths we have decided to investigate. Although I am loathe to define a corporate entity as "evil", I am beginning to believe that this might be the case."
She her head nervously. "Would you like a summation of what I have learned or a download to your comp, Zeton?"
"Dead person has nice wrister." Widjgleebe says wiping it off carefully with a handy cloth."Useful?"
"Nekshi, why don't you just tell me the important bits now and once we get back to a safe location you can transfer the files."
"What's that Widj?", Zeton stops abruptly as he looks at the wrister
Widjgleebe is holding and begins to realize the potential uses of having an enemy comm device. "Nekshi, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
While the party chats, they descend a (Farbett-friendly) stairway into a tunnel that is maybe just wide enough for two modest-sized vehicles to pass each other. At first it is pitch black down below, but as soon as the first person reaches the bottom of the stairs, a few strips of dim, red lights (like the ones in the Farbett tunnels visited earlier) sputter on.
It's adequate illumination for those with good night vision (i.e. Farbetts, Hergoth, Shurians, and Ahmonites) but iffy for those with more daylight-oriented eyes (i.e. Yangae, Ibitonians, and Besteengs) and of little help to those from worlds with very bright suns (i.e. Zorlans).
The tunnel itself has a surfaced floor and tiled walls, but it clearly hasn't been maintained in ages. The walls are stained with parasitic growth and who knows what else, and the floor sometimes crunches or splats underfoot.
It also reeks.
Betham looks up from his wrister and points. "This way," he says with distaste. "There's a storage node a couple hundred meters ahead. It's also a junction with two main tunnels."
"What, this is just a branch?" wonders Lirassa. "How big are the main tunnels?"
"Don't forget that these were originally built as bomb shelters for a quarter of the population of the city," replies Betham. "Now they drive big trucks down the main tunnels during harvest season."
Nekshi waves a hand in front of her face. "Perhaps they should attempt to drive trucks full of air freshener through here at some point."
"As for a summary, I have found that Andelfin while stimulating the local and planetary economy has done so at the expense of the Hergoth and betterment of the Yangae populations. This has gone unreported, generally, because any increase in employment and investment is seen as a success. But statistics don't lie, there exists a real racial barrier in their hiring practices.
Secondly, Andelfin has been a known financial supporter of Yangae right wing groups, like the Night Guard and Scarlet Order. I'm sure we've all formed strong opinions about those people during the last few days.
Finally, and perhaps most alarming is that while it is primarily an interstellar trading company, Andelfin has been only lightly affected by the recent pirate and Triad raids against shipping in this sector. This has allowed them to acquire rival shipping firms damaged from the attacks. They now control a significant portion of interplanetary trade. I have not worked out the percentages, but it is significant."
"Why am I not surprised to learn Andelfin isn't the responsible corporate community member they would like us to believe they are? I wonder if they had anything to do with the 'reception party' we had earlier this evening? I also wonder if we can take advantage of this wrister..."
Noticing that the lighting my not be adequate for Nekshi, Zeton asks, "Are you able to see well enough?"
"I'm not sure how I feel about this talk!" says Mey'Luskar. "I mean, I know all this nasty rune stuff is happening, but that's Mas'Vellaf's doing! Andelfin has done a lot of great things, and it's lame to sod them for being successful! Right, Pru?"
"Right, Lady!" agrees Pru. "Don't forget that I'm with the Night Guard! I'm thankful for any support we can get!"
"As well you should be," retorts Bina darkly. "But the song is different for those whose lives are being destroyed unjustly."
"Unjustly?" snaps Pru. "Like the 'gothies' have been trying to destroy ours? So we're turning the tables fair and square! And why not? You should be thankful we're not blowing up cities this time!"
"Hold on," says Betham. "We may want to stay on the same side. I'm getting a bad feeling about something up ahead."
"Yes," says Bina. "I think it's the guards we were warned about."
"Yes-yes!" hisses Atraktu. "We're halfway to the gate!"
Nekshi sniffs. "Bickering children. Someday you may be lucky enough to rule yourselves with pure logic and mathematical certainty."
She squints in the darkness and walks into Widj's back.
Gracefully, she spins around and faces Pru. "May I see that comm unit you found, Widj? I think Zeton has the right idea."
She runs her hands over Pru's face and squeaks, "You're not a Farbett!"
Widjgleebe giggles. You can't mistake a Yangae for a Farbett even in pitch dark. The smell is very different.
(That doesn't speak very well for the deodorant Pru uses...but then again, Zorlans aren't known for their sense of smell any more than for their eyesight. On the other hand, the general reek in the tunnel would throw anyone's olfactory receptors into confusion.)
Mon'Fargret decides to don the IR goggles.
After listening to the exchange and Betham's response, he chimes in, "This talk is as helpful as a fire among the living wood. Hergoth and Yangae are but two of the races who will suffer if this takes complete hold. Our problems of species are but a speck of moss on a small branch."
"The guards know we're coming," says Bina. "They're suspicious. Do we know what to do?"
Mey'Luskar holds up the package Gol'br'in gave her. "I guess we're supposed to give them this thing."
Bina glances at her and then quickly moves to the rear of the group.
Zeton gently guides Nekshi away from Pru and back toward Widj while following the group.
"Nekshi, Maybe we should look at the writster after we get past the guards. I'm not sure what we can expect ahead, but I'm sure it won't be as easy as handing over the Vines and continuing on our way. Come to think of it, how are we meant to get back out once we've rescued Adulie? I hope the pass is good for our return trip as well..."
"Gol'br'in doesn't want us to return by the same route," observes Bina flatly. "I have a feeling I know why, too."
Lirassa sighs. "Damn Hergoth insight and Farbett noses! Well, if they already know we're coming, it probably won't do to go in loaded." She switches off her rifle and slings it.
"Yes it will probably be wise to appear as nonthreatening as possible so as not to alarm the guards. I think our group's wildly varied xenobiological makeup will cause enough excitement as it is."
"Their group more than one kind too." Widjie says "I smell Farbetts and something else with them."
"Widj, can you tell who, or what else is down there?"
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