Brazil, Tuesday Fandom Time
To: Porto%Aberto@BateRopo.Org
From: Locke%erosmus@polnet.gov
Re: Ripe
Encryption seed:
Decryption key:
Is this Bean or Petra? Or both?
After all his subtle strategies and big surprises, it was a petty murder attempt that tagged him. I don’t know if the news of the shooting down of an IF shuttle even penetrated the war coverage where you are, but he thought was aboard. I wasn’t, but the Chinese named him as the smoke, and suddenly the IF has legal basis for an Earthside operation. The Brazilian government is cooperating, has the compound on lockdown,
The only trouble is, the compound seems to be defended by your little army. We want to do this without loss of life, but you trained your soldiers very well, and Suri doesn’t respond to my feeble attempts to contact him. Before left, he seemed to be in Achilles’s pocket. That might have been protective coloration, but who knows what happened on that return trip from China?
Achilles has a way of getting to people. An Indian officer at MinCol who had known Graff for years was the one who fingered me for the shuttle, because the fact that his family was in a camp in China was used to control him. Does Achilles have a way to control Suri? If Suri commands the soldiers to protect Achilles, will they?
Would it make a difference if you were there? I will be there, but I’m afraid I never quite trusted your assurance that the soldiers would absolutely obey me. I have a feeling that I lost face when I fled the compound. But you know them, I don’t.
Your advice would be appreciated. Your presence would be very helpful. I will understand if you choose to provide neither. You owe nothing to me - you were right when I was wrong, and I jeopardized everybody. But at this point, I’d like to do this without killing any of your soldiers, and especially without being killed myself - I wouldn’t want to pretend my motives are entirely altruistic. I have no choice but to be there myself. If I’m not on the ground for the penetration of the compound, I can kiss my future as Hegemon good-bye.
Meanwhile, the Chinese don’t seem to be doing so well, do they? My congratulations to the Caliph. I hope he will be more generous to his conquered foes than the Chinese were.
Bean’s flight was the normal misery of hours in a confined space. But at least he was flying west, so the jet lag wasn’t as debilitating. He thought he might just go directly in as soon as he arrived, but thought better of it. He needed to think clearly. To be able to improvise and act quickly on impulse. He needed to sleep.
Peter was waiting for him at the doorway of the airplane. Being Hegemon gives you a few privileges denied to other people in airports-- and so did being the Hegemon's chief of staff, by the looks of it. Bean was too tired to ask why she was there - she always seemed to be there when Peter was involved, anyway - and so he didn't ask any questions.
Peter led him down the stairs instead of out the jetway, and they got in a car that drove them directly to the hotel that had been set up as the IF command post. IF soldiers were at every entrance, and Peter assured him there were sharpshooters in every surrounding building, and in this one, too.
They stepped into his room.
[[ for the girl; taken from a certain osc card novel i'll be happy to be done with. ]]
From: Locke%erosmus@polnet.gov
Re: Ripe
Encryption seed:
Decryption key:
Is this Bean or Petra? Or both?
After all his subtle strategies and big surprises, it was a petty murder attempt that tagged him. I don’t know if the news of the shooting down of an IF shuttle even penetrated the war coverage where you are, but he thought was aboard. I wasn’t, but the Chinese named him as the smoke, and suddenly the IF has legal basis for an Earthside operation. The Brazilian government is cooperating, has the compound on lockdown,
The only trouble is, the compound seems to be defended by your little army. We want to do this without loss of life, but you trained your soldiers very well, and Suri doesn’t respond to my feeble attempts to contact him. Before left, he seemed to be in Achilles’s pocket. That might have been protective coloration, but who knows what happened on that return trip from China?
Achilles has a way of getting to people. An Indian officer at MinCol who had known Graff for years was the one who fingered me for the shuttle, because the fact that his family was in a camp in China was used to control him. Does Achilles have a way to control Suri? If Suri commands the soldiers to protect Achilles, will they?
Would it make a difference if you were there? I will be there, but I’m afraid I never quite trusted your assurance that the soldiers would absolutely obey me. I have a feeling that I lost face when I fled the compound. But you know them, I don’t.
Your advice would be appreciated. Your presence would be very helpful. I will understand if you choose to provide neither. You owe nothing to me - you were right when I was wrong, and I jeopardized everybody. But at this point, I’d like to do this without killing any of your soldiers, and especially without being killed myself - I wouldn’t want to pretend my motives are entirely altruistic. I have no choice but to be there myself. If I’m not on the ground for the penetration of the compound, I can kiss my future as Hegemon good-bye.
Meanwhile, the Chinese don’t seem to be doing so well, do they? My congratulations to the Caliph. I hope he will be more generous to his conquered foes than the Chinese were.
Bean’s flight was the normal misery of hours in a confined space. But at least he was flying west, so the jet lag wasn’t as debilitating. He thought he might just go directly in as soon as he arrived, but thought better of it. He needed to think clearly. To be able to improvise and act quickly on impulse. He needed to sleep.
Peter was waiting for him at the doorway of the airplane. Being Hegemon gives you a few privileges denied to other people in airports-- and so did being the Hegemon's chief of staff, by the looks of it. Bean was too tired to ask why she was there - she always seemed to be there when Peter was involved, anyway - and so he didn't ask any questions.
Peter led him down the stairs instead of out the jetway, and they got in a car that drove them directly to the hotel that had been set up as the IF command post. IF soldiers were at every entrance, and Peter assured him there were sharpshooters in every surrounding building, and in this one, too.
They stepped into his room.
[[ for the girl; taken from a certain osc card novel i'll be happy to be done with. ]]