Aberrant: Stargate Universe - Mr. Specialist goes to Washington

[z028 Riley]

Before the general dismissed them, Kyria piped up with, "How are we getting there? A plane would be fastest, but we're not likely to get there unnoticed that way. A car would take, what, a little over a day if we drive strait through? But we'd get there with much less of liklihood of being expected. Plus, with a van or two we could take any equipment we'll need and have an easy method of travel around the city."

She glance at the group, then back to general, "Can we spare a day?"

[Yseult Sierra]

Yseult nodded in agreement with General Landry. Yes, some of what they did was legally... grey, but once certain lines were crossed, they could never be uncrossed. To have one's inner-most thoughts and memories revealed, stolen... It was not something Yseult was terribly comfortable with, and was profoundly glad was not an ability she possessed.

"I am thinking your idea, it is a splendid one, Kyria. A couple of government issued vans or SVUs, they will not stand out in a city such as DC, yes?" Yseult gave the stunning youth a gracious nod and smile the turned to the rest of the group. "We should be on alert though. We do not what... otherworldly aid, this Higgenbottom may have access to. We will look mighty foolish if the mighty 'specialists' move in to apprehend him and he is ringed away aboard a cloaked vessel."

[Mr Fox]

General Landry nodded. He thought maybe Kyria had heard him, she had looked his way and he thought her eyes had narrowed just a touch in thought. It would have to do.

"Ok people, you have a plan, now get to it. The snatch would be best done if you have good transport. Take two of the SUVs and get moving and I will expect to see you back here late Sunday with the target."

-----

The group dispersed to their quarter and gathered the needed gear and met up in the motor pool. The official story was a camping trip in the mountains. No doubt the absence of specialists would be noted in a day or two, but by then Marcus would already be in custody.

[z028 Riley]

Kyria settled herself into the back of one of the vans, her only major apparent gear for the mission a pillow and blanket. She curled up and seemed to promptly fall asleep. Any attempts to communicate with her will be met with mumbles and a more insistent curling up within her blanket.

Click to reveal..

Kyria being up to things:

Mega is always first die, each roll represents 3 hours.

1d10=6, 1d10=3, 1d10=4, 1d10=5, 1d10=5, 1d10=4

0 suxx

1d10=3, 1d10=4, 1d10=2, 1d10=10, 1d10=3, 1d10=1

0 suxx (due to difficulty, only one success on roll)

1d10=6, 1d10=5, 1d10=1, 1d10=4, 1d10=2, 1d10=9

0 suxx (due to difficulty, only one success on roll)

1d10=4, 1d10=8, 1d10=7, 1d10=9, 1d10=7, 1d10=8

3 suxx (with +2 difficulty)

Kyria being up to -other- things:

1d10=9, 1d10=9, 1d10=1, 1d10=10, 1d10=2, 1d10=5, 1d10=8

5 suxx (5 total)

1d10=3, 1d10=10, 1d10=8, 1d10=5, 1d10=7, 1d10=4, 1d10=7

4 suxx (9 total)

1d10=8, 1d10=2, 1d10=8, 1d10=9, 1d10=6, 1d10=7, 1d10=5

5 suxx (14 total)

21 of 30 QP spent, will rest afterwards.

[The Red Man]

Dressed in civilian clothing (T-shirt, jeans and boots, topped off with a beat-up old brown leather jacket) for the first time since that disastrous evening out at Kiki Nass, Dec climbed into the back seat next to Kyria. With no apparent self-consciousness or hesitation, he curled one arm around the apparently sleeping girl and nestled her close to him as his other hand pushed his Raybans into place over his eyes.

Those who hadn't been present for the miracle in the cafeteria were left wondering at the apparent good health and vitality the sergeant radiated. The grim, grizzled look he'd borne previously was gone now, taking some etched lines and a lot of greyed hair with it. His face inscrutable under the shades, Dec smoothed a lock of Kyria's hair back from her face before settling in for the trip.

[Rorx]

Gwyn (likewise dressed in jeans, boots, t-shirt and a hunting jacket) puts a couple of duffle and tent bags into the boot. They are part of the cover as going on a camping trip, but inside is some of the various items the team had thought might help on the mission.

Getting into the car he smiles at the two in the back as he takes the driving seat, adjusts it to his height and pulls out a binder of CD's. Opening the CD changer in the car he only half fills it then turns to the others in the car.

"Anyone else bring any music for the trip?"

[Yseult Sierra]

Yseult sat down in the front seat, dressed in a tight pair of black jeand and a blouse that matched the vivid hue of her eyes, hidden behind her pair of Prada sunglasses. She glanced at the rearview mirror and saw the way Declan held Kyria, unable to keep her lips from tightening slightly with wistful envy. She leaned her head against the head-rest, turning to look out the tinted window of the SUV and saw her faint reflection in the window, realizing she barely looked any older than Kyria.

She was a woman, young and healthier than ever, with the same needs as any other woman. She desperately missed her husband, and the closest thing to romance she had allowed herself was with someone she had been completely surprised by and unprepared for, and who was already in a relationship.

Gwyn sat down in the driver's seat, asking about music, and Yseult sighed. Her husband and children had always brought the music on trips, so it never even occurred to her to bring some.

"Do you have any Leonard Cohen or Blue Rodeo, Gwyn? Or Depeche Mode, perhaps?" Yse asked softly, not turning away from the window.

[Rorx]

Gwyn starts looking through the small binder, "Sorry Doc, it doesn't look like it. I just grabbed these mainly at random, I haven't gotten around to arranging the discs yet. Lets see... I've got some Springsten, Pink Floyd, Guns and Roses, Terrorvision, Sister's of Mercy, Madness, Buddhist chants from Tibet. Hmm, that should have been in the 'never to be seen in public' pile, Oh well. And we continue with a comedy disc by Bill Bailey, the Planet's Suite by Holst and lastly Johnny Cash."

He turns to the others, "So anythign you brought yourselves or fancy from that lot?"

[Yseult Sierra]

"Quel domage," Yseult murmurred, "However, Dark Side of the Moon is perfectly acceptable. Pink Floyd, it suits me find at this moment." She reached a hand between her breasts, several buttons of her shirt undone, fingering her wedding ring that she wore on a chain about her neck.

[Aradia McConnell]

Aradia, more pensive than usual after her new change in appearance and given the seriousness of the situation, climbed into the other currently unoccupied SUV in the back seat. She pulled out her iPod - one of the few items she'd brought back with her stuff retrieved from the circus. It looked worn and well-loved, and she fit the ear buds into her ears. She closed her eyes, and with a few flips of her thumb across the circular pad she was nodding her head slightly in beat to the music, waiting for the rest of her traveling companions to show up.

[Mr Fox]

Cam climbed into the drivers seat of the second SUV for a moment and attached something to the stereo, smiled at Kyria and then moved to the back seat. From the back he said, "That should allow us to talk to the folks in the other car. Kinda like walkie talkies, but everyone in the car can hear and talk. It's voice activated. That should keep the drive from being too boring."

Once in the back he pulled out his Goa'uld datapad and began poking at symbols, "While we drive I'm going to be trying to hack some of the other computer systems that might be suspect."

Once everyone was aboard the two SUV's the caravan of two took off in the direction of the mountain hiking area for the supposed wilderness survival training exercise. Before arriving there they turned off and made their way to the interstate and DC.

[Rorx]

Gwyn replies softly to Yseult, seeing that she is obviously missing her family keenly at the moment, "Sorry Doc, Dark Side must be in one of the other crates, but I've got 'Wish you were here', would that be ok?"

[Yseult Sierra]

Yseult looked over at Gwyn, eyes hidden by the sheen of her sunglasses, her soft smile turning thankful. She gave his arm a grateful squeeze, her fingers strong, but her hands soft.

"'Wish You Were Here', c'est simplement parfait. Merci, Gwyn." There was the slightlest hitch to her accented voice.

[Omar]

Omar sat in the front seat of the first SUV. His seat was positioned as far back as it would go in order to accomidate him. He closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. The trip would be long and he was not in a conversational mood, especially when he thought about the final plan for the abduction.

This is going to go horribly wrong. He thought. I hope I'm wrong, but my gut tells me that we are in for more trouble than we think. We are getting arrogant with our powers and abilities.

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia found a spare seat and tried to sleep. She hated car rides; they were a waste of time better spent, in her opinion. She made no objection to the music, but if something came on that she didn't like, she just slipped on her headphones and turned them up.

[Mr Fox]

The trip to Washington went smoothly, the intercom that Cam had installed went a long way to making the ride less tedious. It helped being able to talk to everyone and since the communicator was base on subspace technology, it was a secure channel. Cam had explained that it was a reverse engineered version of the communicators build into Jaffa armor.

Once in DC the groups made their way to a house near their target that had been rented under false identification to avoid tipping off anyone that SG teams were in the area.

By the time of arrival Kyria had succeeded in her preliminary work and given Ari the images needed to practice looking like the target. It was a bit disconcerting for the other occupants of the second SUV to look over and see Marcus sitting in the back seat. By the time of arrival she had his look mastered.

The group assembled in the rented house for last minute discussion before proceeding.

Cam stretched and yawned, "I don't really need sleep anymore but something about long drives still make me sleepy." He covered his mouth as he yawned a second time then took a sip of the soda he had picked up at a truck stop about a hour back.

"I think we are ready. I know Aradia has the guy captured look wise. Kyria, do you have anything to report before we begin?"

[z028 Riley]

The young red-head shrugged, still settled up against Declan and none the worse for the trip. "From what I could gather, the man's pretty paranoid. I'd take this whole operation under the idea that he fears everyone and is always thinking that someone is after him."

She tilted her head to the side, considering. "If you'd like, I could look for specifics from him, but from the reaction of the command staff of the SGC I'd been under the impression that that sort of activity was not allowed. Was I mistaken?"

The question was asked midly, but her eyes never left the Colonel.

[Mr Fox]

Cam looked curiously, "What do you mean specifics?" Before Kyria could answer Cam raised his hands. "No, don't tell me, I don't want to know. Just remember, that according to the law a person can't be made to give evidence against themselves, so you can't read his mind to make him talk or anything like that. On the other hand if you have any insight into his character or habits or actions you think he might take, please feel free to tell me and we'll plan accordingly."

[Yseult Sierra]

Yseult lounged in a recliner, legs crossed, truly tired, not psychosomatically tired, from the car ride. She nodded agreement with Cam as he mentioned that Mr. Higgenbottom couldn't be made to provide testimony against himself, then tilted her head, tapping her lips with a finger as she pondered getting insight to his character or actions.

"Kyria, if he is as paranoid as you say, then he will have made contigency plans for something similar to this, yes? At least, about being captured. Can you see if he expects any... otherworldly aid in such an event?"

[z028 Riley]

"Colonel, I can't make anyone do anything," she frowned deeper. "I'm a telepath, not a dominator. There are things I could do that would make a person more inclined to act one way or another, but I can't....puppet...them so directly."

She spread out her hands, "I can tell you where he is right now and what he plans on doing this afternoon, but I can't tell you if he'll actually go through with those plans. I can rifle through his memory for anything we might want or need to know, though it'll probably take time to get anything useful from him unless he's already in a situation or mindframe to be actively thinking about what we need to know."

"As for his character...." She crossed her arms and pursed her lips, "He's a selfish, greedy, paranoid man that cares little for anyone or anything beyond his own comfort and security. He doesn't trust anyone completely, though he probably trusts his mistress more than anyone else in the world. Sort of. He trusts that she's not involved in the dangerous parts of his life, and her ignorance and taboo nature is part of his attraction to her." She shrugged, "So tell me what you want to know. That's what I can do."

[Mr Fox]

"I see." Cam considered that, "Can we assume he is planning to visit his mistress this afternoon as expected, since it's Friday?"

[z028 Riley]

She held her hands up to stop any more requests or orders. "Okay, give me a moment to make connection with him again. I'll look into to both those things and if anyone comes up with anything else, let me report and then I'll go looking again. It's best to do this all at once as much as possible. It can get tiring pretty quick if I have to keep going back and forth finding him."

She nodded to both of them, and for those that knew her well enough, there was just something slightly off about her annoyed theatrics. Then again, a 24+ hour car ride could make anyone cranky. She leaned back in the seat, eyes focused off to the side and somewhere past the roof of the SUV. After a moment she spoke, "He's just as afraid of aliens as the IOA or us, maybe more......he's planning to see his mistress tonight, they're renting a mov-- really? Okay, that's just..." she shook her head, "Nevermind. Sorry. Not relevent. Let's see....contingency pla - bingo!"

She stood up, her eyes tracking something that couldn't be seen. "He has a deadman's switch, a package with everything in it, as blackmail and surety against....well, anyone he has dealings with. He gave it to her, the mistress, for safekeeping. She's supposed to send it to someone in the IOA if he doesn't check in with her regularly. Looks like it's pretty recent, made from getting spooked about what's been going on at the SGC, so it should be up to date."

She blinked herself back to van, still holding a tenous connection to the other mind but obviously focused back on her current CO. "He doesn't actually know where the package is anymore, that was part of why he gave it to her, so its actual location couldn't be gotten from him. But she knows. Do you want me to find out?"

[Rorx]

Gwyn grins, "Hell yes! If we get our hands on that it would be documentary evidence of the dodgy deals going on. Better check that she is as clean as he thinks she is as well. It wouldn't do to suddenly find out that she is secretly his controller."

[Mr Fox]

"To quote a wise Welshman, 'Hell yes.'" Cam grinned at Gwyn. "That would be extremely helpful."

[z028 Riley]

Kyria nodded and got that far away look again as she sought out the mind of Higgenbottom's mistress. "This might take a little bit, just fyi."

Click to reveal.. (Telepathy Roll)

1d10=10, 1d10=3, 1d10=10, 1d10=9, 1d10=7, 1d10=10

Yow....7 successes....

It took nearly no time before Kyria began reporting again, "He's planning on giving it to her tonight. She's pretty much exactly what she seems, so she might peek at it to see if she could sell/blackmail it with him later if he tries to leave her or at least stops paying for her for some reason. We could have someone impersonate her and get him and the proof in one swoop."

[Mr Fox]

Cam grinned, "That's great! We wouldn't even have to even question him that way and there wouldn't be any worry about the legality of how the evidence was gathered. The President would be free to act immediately."

He frowned then and looked over at Aradia, "Dang, you've spent the entire trip working on impersonating Higgenbottom, can you switch to her on this short a notice?"

[Aradia McConnell]

"I think so.. this seems to be getting easier the more I do it."

Aradia glanced over at Kyria for a moment, and then closed her eyes to focus on the image the other woman sent her telepathically. After a moment, she began to shift again, her features adjusting slowly back to something more feminine, gradually taking on the appearance of the man's mistress.

"There.. how does this look?"

[Rorx]

Gwyn nods, "looks good, but that isn't going to cut it on it's own. You will have to know enough to act like her and how she is with him until he gives her the package." he looks between Ari and Kyria, "can you manage that between the two of you?"

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia leaned over the seat and examined her friend. "Hmm," she said, comparing the face in front of her to the picture she'd seen earlier. "Make your lips a touch fuller, and a little more pink - though it looks like she's wearing lipstick in that image, so it's hard to say what she'll look like without it."

The dark-skinned specialist paused, then said softly, "I know you can emulate her with Kyria's help - that'll be easy for a performer of your ability. I'm more worried about... Well, hon, I don't want to question you or your professionalism, but this guy will think you're his mistress. Are you comfortable with where that might go?"

She looked at her friend with concern in her eyes. She knew Aradia's limited experience with men, and knew that this could go badly for her friend if things went the wrong way.

[Yseult Sierra]

Yseult gave Olivia a slight nod, then turned her eyes on the disguised Aradia. When they had changed the plan to have Aradia replace Higgenbottom's mistress, she had thought of this possibility immediately, but she had waited for it to occur to Aradia herself or for someone closer to her to bring it up.

Now, she was curious to see how much Aradia was willing to do for the SGC.

[z028 Riley]

Kyria quirked a brow at the other women. "It's not like we're going to leave her in there that long. We just need him to actually get inside the building with his package of proof." She shrugged.

"It shouldn't take more than a minute, at most, of her being alone with him. And if he does something you don't like, Ari, grow claws or really big teeth and take a hand off or something." The suggestion was delivered without much indication if she meant it as an exaggeration or a serious course of action.

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"Won't he need to hand it to her?" Olivia queried. "And I wasn't thinking it would necessarily go all the way to sex, but are you going to be okay pretending to be intimate with a guy? He might want a hug or a kiss or something before he hands it over." There was more than Aradia's inexperience, too, Olivia knew. After all, if she were smooching on some guy as part of a mission, Vinny would probably go through the roof. Wakiki was somewhat less violate, but he was still a guy.

[Rorx]

Gwyn nods, "Yeah, that was my take on it Doc. If he doesn't hand it over then it is still legally his and we'd need a warrant for it. If he hands it over then it's ours to do with what we want."

[z028 Riley]

"Really? 'Cause when he says he handed it to his mistress and she says she wasn't there, is that the point at which we tell the judge that he handed it over to woman who was shapeshifted into her form? I suppose you could argue for her being undercover, but I'm pretty sure even if you did go that route that it'd be thrown out for entrapment anyways." She sighed and shook her head.

"Look, it's obvious most of you want to do this as 'by the books' as possible, but it's pretty absurd given the secrecy that the SGC operates under. Either an IOA court, and that's really the only one that could be used at this point, is going to accept the evidence as what it is or they're not. Either he's going to be put on trial, or people higher up the chain than him are going to rig the trial or kill him to keep it from happening because it'll put their necks on the line. All of this....this....," she waved ineffectually towards the air, "...mental acrobatics isn't going to change that reality." She ran a hand through her hair and glanced around at each of them. "I'm not trying to trample anyone's personal sense of justice, but think about it. I just rifled through two people's minds to find out quite personal information about them. We're going to use that information to put them in a compromising situation by impersonating someone in a way that, to the knowledge of the majority of this planet, simply isn't possible. We're doing this because that man is involved in subverting a program involved in a war that most of this planet doesn't know exists, and could be putting the entire planet in danger to serve his own selfish ambitions and fears. The laws you have right now don't fit us, and because the SGC and the IOA keep us secret, they never will. As long as we're their dirty little secret we're either playing by the rules to make them feel safe and then might as well not be novas, Specialists, whatever, or we can act outside of the laws under a tacit understanding that'll most likely get ditched the moment we're caught or become an embarrassment."

The vent ended and she looked away from the others, taking a moment to regain her composure. "It's true, even if you guys get mad at me for saying it," she ended softly.

[Aradia McConnell]

There was silence in both cars for a long moment after Kyria's rant. Then, from the other car, though only the people riding with her could see her, Aradia chimed up, sounding annoyed.

"She's got a point, guys. I mean, do you guys even remember what O'Neill said? These are the President's orders, right? They told us to seize the computer and get Higgenbottom into custody for questioning. They wanna learn everything they can, and they're taking it to the President. Not the god-damned Colorado State Police or something. Straight to the president. This won't ever see a lawyer, or a court of law. This is just to prove that there's a fuckin' bad apple in the bunch. We're like spies, guys - the only rules in this mission are don't kill anyone, and don't get fuckin' caught. And anyone who thinks otherwise is just fooling themselves."

There was radio silence for a moment, and it seemed as if Ari was done. In her car she'd leaned back and glanced out the window thoughtfully, before turning back towards the radio and speaking back up.

"And I'll make goo-goo eyes at him , hell I'll even kiss the bastard's slimy lips if I have to and imagine I get to bite one off. But if he puts a hand on me where I don't want him to, I'll knock the son of a bitch out and we'll take him, his package, his computer, and any other shit we wanna take, and then we'll get the fuck outta there. Okay?"

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"I think what Kyria's saying," Olivia said with a dry humor, "is that you won't even have to go that far. Or rather, that you can knock him out before it gets to the kissing slimy lips."

She looked at the young alien. "We're used to having things done a certain way, especially as civilians. All we really have to do is get him somewhere contained where our 'sparkly stuff' can't be seen. After we have him, it's to the clean-up point - getting the computer and files and all that we need to give to the president."

She smiled at Kyria. "Do I get your gist correctly?"

[z028 Riley]

She nodded, "Pretty much. And...uh, sparkly stuff?"

It was obvious that she understood what Livy meant, but not the reference she was making.

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia chuckled. "In Disney movies, magic is often depicted as a wave of sparkle and color," she explained. "I was referring to the fact that our powers would seem like magic to many people." She looked curious. "Have you seen a Disney movie?"

[z028 Riley]

She shook her head, "Nope. There's a company called Aurora Production that puts out a lot of fantasy vids and games and such, but when they wanted to show a quantum power being used it was usually just music or like an aura around the person. Sparkly...I guess that would work just as well."

She gave Livy a greatful smile, happy she hadn't been yelled at or glared at over her outburst. She knew she was cranky after the car ride, but she also knew she was right.

[Rorx]

Gwyn grins, "Ok Sparkle girls, we just grab him and go as soon as we may. Fine, but does he bring any of his bodyguards with him that we are going to need to work around or is it just this guy and the mistress we have to deal with?"