Date: December 11, 2010
Game date: August 27, EY217
Previous events: Meetings with publishers and professors; defacement of public art
Volkova takes the tram back to Lettojin Hotel but Jillian isn't there. Rather than chase all over the place trying to find her Volkova decides to knock back a few vodkas in the hotel bar and keep an eye on the front door in the hopes of seeing anyone she knows coming in. Bishop does show up half an hour later. He tells Volkova that Jillian's being held by campus security.
The two of them hatch a plan to rescue their captain by stealing construction equipment and breaking through the wall of the security building where she is being held. They'll need Malcolm to drive and operate the heavy vehicle and will need Jillian's approval to do all this, of course. On the way back to the university they pick up some flowers from a shop. On the small greeting card Volkova writes a note for Jillian, sketching out the plan and telling Jillian to give one red flower to Bishop if she approves. That way they can get the message to her without arousing suspicion.
Jillian isn't having a good time back at Aiscapo University's security department. After Bishop's inflammatory accusations a representative from the university has shown up and informed Jillian that Alexei Rusanov is on his way so that the university can find out what is really going on. Jillian, still quite drunk, panics. She asks to talk to Malcolm but Millens refuses her. The last time someone visited her she punched him, after all. Jillian offers to pay for the damage she inflicted to the sculptures but Millens refuses this offer as well. She's going to wait until Rusanov shows up and two security personnel will make sure that Jillian does, too.
In the waiting area of the security department Malcolm is sipping a fresh cup of dreadful vending machine tea and flipping through a copy of Spaceflight Monthly. When Bishop and Volkova show up Bishop does his usual sweet talking and convinces the receptionist to let him through to see Jillian while Volkova fills Malcolm in on the plan and what his part will be. Malcolm flat-out refuses to participate in any of this and if he didn't think Volkova was insane before is definitely starting to believe it now.
Back in the questioning room Jillian cries with joy upon seeing a friendly face. Bishop gives her the flowers and tells her to read the card. She does so and glares at Bishop, her happiness evaporating. He doesn't get any flower back; Jillian drops the bouquet to the floor and slumps down to join them a few seconds later. Not sure what else to do, Bishop leaves the room.
Walking down the corridor back to the waiting room Bishop puts it all together and realizes that in all likelihood Alexei Rusanov did in fact rape Jillian. He tells Malcolm and Volkova his conclusions and just as they're digesting this Rusanov himself enters the security building with an entourage of three. Alexei Rusanov is a man whose slicked hair, swooshing coat and self-satisfied look betrays someone with money and the confidence it brings. As he heads over to the receptionist Volkova leaps to her feet, walks over to him, and with an epithet about rapists smashes him in the face with Knuta! Rusanov goes down like a sack of potatoes and his friends leap to his defence. A general brawl breaks out.
Bishop's a lover, not a fighter, and while Malcolm has been in the Navy his personal combat skills are limited to firearms. One of Rusanov's posse looks to be comfortable with his fists, one pulls a knife, and the last one seems as lost in the melee as Bishop. Volkova drops Knuta and starts dragging the stunned Rusanov down the hallway towards the questioning room, shouting to him that he's going to have to answer for what he's done. The two guards in the room with Jillian give each other a quick look and rush out.
The fight is brief. Rusanov's friend who doesn't seem to know what to do in a fight engages in a tug-of-war with Volkova over Rusanov, who is still limited to clutching his bloodied face and moaning. Bishop gets pummeled and has his t-shirt pulled over his head; blinded and stunned, he trips over the coffee table in the waiting room and falls between it and the couch, entangled in his clothing. This frees up his opponent to join his knife-wielding friend against Malcolm. Things don't go well for the pilot: he gets a thankfully shallow cut to his chest and a solid fist directly to his nose, which starts to bleed profusely. In retaliation he grabs his fresh cup of tea on the coffee table and splashes the scalding liquid in the knife fighter's face, blinding him. It's no great loss he reasons, being tea from a vending machine. The two guards who are coming down the hallway smash Volkova solidly in the arm with a truncheon from behind. Jillian, racing behind them and in shock at the violence shouts out "stop!" at the top of her lungs. Everyone stops; it's not as if anyone really wanted to fight, after all.
In the deafening calm everyone hears the receptionist's phone click back on the receiver. Eyes wide at the chaos that just erupted in front of her she's obviously called the police. Bishop rights himself and gets his t-shirt on properly. Jillian slips past the guards, who are distracted by Volkova's silent menace, and tries to explain to the bloodied Rusanov what the situation is. He's not in the mood to listen and insults her while his posse gathers defensively around him. Bishop begins to shout back at Rusanov. Desperate, Jillian tries to talk to the receptionist, but she'll hear none of it. Jillian then heads back to the questioning room where Virginia Millens is cowering. Not surprisingly, Millens also won't listen. Everyone is waiting for the police to show up and the security guards block the doors to make sure that no one escapes.
It's all a blur when the police show up. Everyone gives up without a fight and Knuta is taken away in a bag as evidence. They're brought to the police station and it's late enough that after their statements are taken and identities registered they're put into general lockup. A judge will see them tomorrow.
Jillian and Volkova talk long into the night. Jillian tells Volkova that Alexei Rusanov did indeed rape her while they were both university students. Volkova reveals that she, too, was raped by her uncle, Nicolai Volkov, when younger. After this revelation Jillian, apparently serious, asks her if she wants her uncle killed. Volkova has never seriously contemplated this and isn't sure how she'd feel about her uncle being killed, and the matter is left unresolved. The two bond over their shared past experiences and current predicament. Jillian does feel much better after seeing Rusanov bloodied on the floor. It's as if a weight has been lifted from her shoulders.
There isn't a trial, as everyone admits their guilt immediately. Bishop and Malcolm are given suspended sentences for assault, as they didn't start anything and were primarily trying to protect their friend. Jillian's vandalism leads to her either paying to have the sculptures cleaned or doing it herself. Given the cost to have unionized workers clean public art Jillian decides that no matter how demeaning it will be she'll do it herself. Volkova's armed assault gives her a month in jail; it was an unprovoked attack with a wrench but she did drop her weapon after the first hit and has no previous record. She also loses Knuta. The crew is not sure what happened to Rusanov's posse and don't care.
Everyone but Volkova is out on the street on August 30th. She'll be freed September 30th, perhaps a week earlier if she behaves. Everyone assumes she'll be out on the 30th at the earliest and somehow manage to get a life sentence at worst.
Lettojin hotel has kept their rooms and continued to charge the group while they've had their run-in with the law. There are three messages waiting for them. The first is from Jinjing Wei, Jillian's old teacher from her Navy days. As it turns out Jillian just missed her on Eondeog; Wei was on the surface of Daebak but is now back at the moon's naval base. The second is from The Star magazine, which is interested in their photos and story and would like to hear back from them soon. That message was left two days ago. The third and final message is from Professor Rolf Fisher wondering why they didn't show up for their meeting on the 28th.
Fisher is the first to get a return call. He's not too concerned about the group's apologies, being intrigued enough by the possibility of getting this information to quickly set up another meeting for the next day, also at the hotel. He asks them to bring him a sample of the readings.
The next call is to The Star. The magazine's science editor, Yee-un Yoon, isn't used to waiting so long for someone to get back to her and isn't happy about it either. She does have an opening in one hour and if the group want to sell their story to The Star they'd better be there. Everyone piles into a cab and rushes to the office to get there on time, waiting only long enough for Bishop to grab some classier clothes than his t-shirt. If he's going to be the one negotiating the deal for their story (and after the meeting with Mr. Adraghand on Vishnu it definitely won't be Jillian in charge of this!) he needs to look the part. It feels like the 21-floor ride in the elevator takes the better part of the hour, but they do make it on time.
Yee-un Yoon is in her thirties, with a round face and a tough attitude. The group tell her a brief version of their story as she looks at the rest of their photos with an impassive face. Once they are done she tells them that they'll take the photos but also want the full story behind seeing these supposed alien craft and for this deal to be exclusive. They agree to this if their names remain anonymous and the price is right, whereupon Bishop engages in a duel of wits with Yoon about how much The Star will pay. He uses his charm to its fullest extent, she counters with a blasé front implying that this isn't a great story and that she's seen it all before. When the dust clears everyone is happy with the amount reached. Now it's time for the real work to begin.
Yoon calls for one of the magazine's writers to interview the group to get the full story. The group huddles and discusses what to leave out. They agree not to mention the organized crime tattoos nor the sensor readings that they took themselves and copied from the pirate ship Gurg but to be truthful about everything else, inlcuding the "true" story about the Gurg's encounter with the squid ships.
The rest of the day and night is spent telling the story to The Star's writer. She tries to pull more information about them than they're comfortable with over the course of the interview, but after some elbows are jabbed into ribs they're convinced at the end that they didn't spill anything they didn't want to. There's no doubt that anyone who does in-depth research will find out who they likely are, but that's a worry for later. For now they finally have some real money in their pocket.
Bishop's Bedpost Notch Count: Zero. (running total: 6)
Volkova's Bedpost Notch Count: Zero (running total: 1)