"You are correct, we felt it was not prudent to have all present at the meeting."

<<2070-09-17 evening>>Outside the Socket

Drek, Slacker is right! I gotta focus. I think the doorman almost spotted me, good thing that tusker chica was walking by right when he waved, but I guess she wasn't interested in him. He probably doesn't have enough teeth or something. Okay, he's talking to some other trogs now. So I gotta moment. What was that word again. Oh yeah,.. Command Mode, LookUp "Culinary, Musing" Cooking cooking arts... wait a minute, does he think I snuck in and actually cooked that stuff? It's cool he think's I did, but then he sounds like he didn't like the food, which makes sense since some trogs cooked it, not me. What's this from Morgan? Oh, well better really focus now, no more musings, which is weird cause everyone is always yelling at me, "Think Boris, Think!".

In a carrying whisper, "It's okay little fly, if there's any trouble Boris will take care of it. Just keep an eye out, and listen carefully. And when the fight starts, cause there's always a fight at these sit down meets, at least there's been at every one which I been to, maybe you can hide in that trash can over there."

Sundown grins, "bottoms up," he says downing the drink one smooth motion. "Nothing like good Scotch, eh?"

He briefly slips into the astral to scan for watchers or other spirits.

Following the others into the meeting room, Flair silently acknowledges Bear with a nod, and casually leans against the wall just inside the door.

@All
Bear chuckles at Morgan's tactful comment about the antics of Boris, "From what I've learned of your dwarven compatriot, it may indeed be prudence. Good to know, too, that my sources about you and your team were on the level with me.

So ... down to business. What I have for you today is a some what usual -- perhaps even mundane -- chore with a twist. The persons that I represent wish to intercept a package while it is in transit. This package, as should have been indicated to you previously, is man portable but rather bulky. If I understand correctly, it is expected that the package will be transported within a large luggage piece.

A smash and grab like this wouldn't usually necessitate a large amount of planning but, as I said, there's a twist. The purpose of this interception seems to be more to discredit the sending party with the receiving one rather than to steal the contents of the package. To that end, it is requested that you intercept the package after it has left the control of the sending party but, obviously, before it is in the hands of the recipient. The goal is to make said recipient feel that the sender was at fault. Obviously, as little trace of your activities as possible would be necessary to enhance this goal."

He settles back in his chair, finishing his pitch. During his speech he was careful to make eye-contact with each of you. Now, however, his gaze almost wanders between your faces as if trying to guess who'll have the first question.

"What can you tell us about this package? 'Man-portable' leaves an uncomfortable amount of guesswork for planning."

"I'll bite," Sundown says, lowering his glass.

"What is the package?"

With his attention divided between scanning for signals within the room and following the conversation, Slacker let his thoughts slip out before he could stop them. "Is the package already in transit or is it still in the hands of the sender?" He was already considering ways of hacking into the sender's system to have the package sent to the wrong coordinates to have it simply delivered to them instead of the rightful recipient, or something else along those lines.

Before he said any more, he glanced over at Morgan who normally does all of the talking, with a mildly sheepish look for speaking out of turn.

<<2070-09-17 evening>>108th Street outside The Socket

While rummaging through an overfull garbage can, carefully replacing the garbage back in place as he digs through it, Boris the Ear, comments to some unseen friend,

"Little fly, you keep on hiding there, no worries. If I find a tidbit for you we'll share. Hey, look, last weeks Emerald City Blues has a cover with Malcolm 'Miserable" Mclain, the halfer singer, on it. He has that song, "It's a Miserable life for a Halfer." and a couple others, like "Looking up at my daddy hurts my neck", "Is a Halfer life radioactive?", "No matter how long I live my life is short.", "The short of it.", "I'm all growed up and everyone still looks down on me.", and my all time favorite, "Hey, eyes down here!". Drek, I missed the show! It was at the new convention center, where you can stand outside and listen if you lie over the ventilation grates in the street."

"On to the next one little fly, we gotta share the wealth, don't want to make anyone upset by hogging this trash can."

Flair keeps her silence, splitting her attention between watching the Johnson, the meeting going on around her, and listening intently for any sounds coming from outside the door, a task greatly aided by her cybermantically-augmented hearing. It wasn't that she didn't have questions. Merely that she trusted the others to ask anything necessary. Of course, in the end if she still had any questions, she'd be sure to voice them.

Gritting his teeth as some suit yelps in surprise at narrowly avoiding being run over with the Step-Van, Stig berates himself for being tardy...again.

*sigh* I knew I shouldn't have started the overhaul of that Roto-drone earlier, I always lose track of time.

Pulling in to an unobtrusive spot a short distance from The Socket, he starts to check out the area, noticing Boris's upper half appear and disappear into a trashcan.

Using his commlink to speak to Boris, Stig says, "Boris! What happened, did I miss the whole show again, where is everyone? Hey, any discarded sci-fi sims in there?"

<<2070-09-17 evening>>108th Street outside The Socket

Boris the Ear looks up in panic, glances across the street, then stuffs his head down into the opening of the garbage can.

@Stig The rest are inside with the trogs. They told me to keep watch in case they got stuck in the ovens. Trogs got big ovens you know. Useful for burning big things. You need to burn something just find the nearest trog kitchen. But I think they are talking to Bear, and they can't talk to me while talking to Bear. You get the tip on how to greet Bear? I'll watch the van for you, head on in.

Triumphantly holding up some rags, and a crumpled gallon jug full of indeterminant liquid, Boris the Ear steps away from garbage can, and pointedly not looking at the newly arrived vehicle, crosses the street headed away.

Awesome. I can use this to wash the step van later. Give it a good polish. Normally I'd get a nuyen or two for it, but Stig is good for it. I'll have to climb a bit to get at the windows, but maybe I can find a box or ladder or something. Too bad the metro bolts down the public trash cans. But I suppose it does keep people from running off with them.

@Morgan, Sundown
The bear leans back to continue, "The package is a rather large quantity of medical supplies. Sure, I know what you're thinking. Medical supplies being short for illegal narcotics. To be honest, that could be the case. From what I understand, the bulkiness is due to the supplies being packaged in smaller groups and then those smaller groups being loaded into luggage."

@Slacker
The bear turns to you with the ghost of a smile on his face at your consternation, "The package is due for delivery in three days. Unfortunately, the delivery location is not exactly nearby. This job will entail some travel time, the expense of which I am authorized to provide up front if necessary."

< I jumped the gun. Ignore this post >

"What are you willing to tell us about the sender and receiver? I'd like to get a head start on my Hail Mary's and knowing if we're to deprive an orphanage of their VITAS vaccinations would help in that regard."

@Morgan
Bear grins, "Nothing that upstanding, I assure you. In fact, this is more of a robin hood scenario if you can get the package back to me. The supplies are currently in the hands of smugglers and will be leaving the country for points abroad. I'm not sure exactly who the receiver is, but I can tell you that they're not legitimate. My data searches led me down a few blind alleys and into a number of Southeast Asian dummy corporations. I suspect that these corporations are used to launder money and goods before distribution.

"This definitely sounds interesting. If you'll allow us to confer."
To the team (routing Boris and Stig's response transmissions through the FlyBot):This sounds interesting, anyone wanting out or should I ask how much?

To the team, Slacker messages: The job itself sounds fine by me, though I have my doubts as to the verasity of his claims that this is something of a 'robin hood' scenario.
He doesn't seem to have anybody watching his PAN, at least I couldn't detect any other signals. So I think I going to hack into his commlink to see if I can get any more info on him, while we continue talking. He might even have some data files relating to this job stored there.

Just tread lightly. While he may have a rep for being trustworthy, he is packing heat and traipsing through a commlink is definitely grounds for lead poisoning in some circles.

<<2070-09-17 evening>>Cypress St. in the Vicinity of The Socket

Boris the Ear stares directly at the flybot following him, "They want out!"

@Morgan I'm gonna come in and get you out!

I should have brought Wanda.

Pausing on the curb, "How much what?"

@Morgan How much what?!

@Boris:No, we're okay. Check the AR feeds I'm sending to you and Stig. You have to focus Boris, after you review the information, that is, after you listen to the conversation between me and Bear, then tell me if you are okay with doing this job or not. And to answer your question, how much money.

<<2070-09-17 evening>>Cypress St. in the Vicinity of The Socket

Boris the Ear jumps back onto the curb as a green ford ameri car flies past honking loudly.

@Morgan Oh. err, well count me in!

Drek! I turned off the AR streams so nothing would distract me. I keep getting the Kleen Fast soap, and Irish Spring Bodywash all over the place. I can't get that stupid jingle in my head. How the heck do I know which ones are right or not.

@Morgan As long as they pay expenses and meals and for a couple sixes of Nu Soy Beer.

@Team I'm here. Sorry I'm late. I'm monitoring the area out here from the van and air. I've caught up on the discussion and it looks doable so far. Sounds like we'll be snatchin' some drug smugglers' goods to me...not that I haven't done that before, but we just need to be careful.
Find out the distance, if we need air transport, we'll also need funds for that, otherwise just some gas money.

@Morgan, Slacker, Sundown
There is a polite knock on the door during your AR communications. The bear tenses slightly and moves a hand under the table as if to push a button. The door behind you slides open and he relaxes as Alicia enteres gracefully with the steak ordered by Sundown.

As the smell of steak wafts into the small room, Morgan breathes deeply and takes a few earnest sips of coffee waiting for the food situation to be sorted out. Giving his sniffer implants a moment to tell him about the steak, he peers into the cup as if lost in thought.

I wonder if I have time to check the acceleration gyro on Spuds while I'm waiting? He seemed a little jerky last time I sent him out. *sigh* Guess I better stick to keeping watch.

Stig notices Boris across the street. Well, Boris is out here keeping watch, maybe I could just jump in the back and check out that gyro real quick. Seeing Boris almost run over by a banged up green Ford, Stig muses, What the hell am I thinking?!

"My colleagues have no immediate objections to what you have thus far proposed and revealed. Just how much compensation were you willing to offer initially?"

@Morgan
Bear looks at you for a moment, leaning back in his seat and clasping his hands over his abdomen. He squints a bit, adopting a shrewd expression before cocking his head to the left. "2500 nuyen plus travel expenses. I can provide either reimbursement for fuel or tickets or, if you can plan for the expense, I can provide additional funds upon request and confirmation of need."

Taken aback by a fair initial offering from a Johnson Morgan replies, "That is acceptable. Now that you have our buy-in, what more can you tell us about our task and your need?"

@Team:"Seems a fair shake, provided we keep the violence to a minimum. Stig, I hope you can provide us with the necessary transport once he makes the location known so we can pocket a little extra."

Sundown smiles lasciviously at the girl as she hands him his steak "thanks, smells great." He doesn't waist time digging in. Hell a free good meal are few and far between.

2,500 bull drek. Dammit, "I," he starts to speak up but chokes on his steak.

"Hold on a sec, I'm sorry, I don't mean to be the fly in the ointment, but don't you think 2,500 is a little low? How about 1k up front and 2,500 on the back end?"

@Shadow
The Bear makes a taps his nose with a finger for a moment, thinking to himself, "I could do 1,000 now and the rest later for a successful interception of the package. Hell, you get the package back to me and the receipient remains unaware of your involvement, then I'll give up 2.000 later -- a bonus 500 for a job well done. You get the package but the recipient knows something fishy happend and we'll have to stick with 1500."

Sundown raises his drink to the Bear and smiles, "thank you," and downs his glass that was just refilled when his steak was dropped off.

"With that settled, if you could be so kind as to fill us in on the details we'll need to know for the job."

@All
Leaning forward, Bear opens the file folder before him and draws out a picture. For those of you who took the opportunity to look at the image of Mr. Federov, the Russian mobster who was nicked last night, the photograph one and the same.

"For those of you who may not have seen the news article, this is a Mr. Federov. It seems our Mr. Federov is not a nice man, having worked for many years with the Russian Vory v Zakone smuggling primarily drugs, weapons, and people out of the Yakut across the Bering Sea into Athabaska and then down into and through our fair city of Seattle. But, in the world of drugs, arms, and human traffiking, there can be a lot of competition. And, it seems that this competition has begun to try and hit hard on Vory operations here in Seattle. If any of you are opposed to working against the Vory, speak up now and you can leave."

He pauses to see if anyone takes his offer. "No? Good. I like my runners with a little guts. The Vory have a rather large, distributed supply chain that their opponents have decided is too complex to attack. So, they leaked information about Mr. Federov to Lone Star and got him picked up last night. He was the man that controlled most of the logistics for the Vory here in the city and, thus, is in the unique position to know almost everything that's going on at any given time. Plus, without him, less skilled middle managerial types are going to have to fill in the slack."

"But, in addition to that action, the Vory's opponents, and my current employer, wishes to discredit the Seattle mobsters by making them look incompetant. Thus, the package interception that you are about to undertake. The package is, as I have stated earlier, medical supplies -- or that's what it'll say on the label. In reality, my sources say that it's a form of highly refined cocain, more addictive and a stronger high but without all the nasty side effects like death. And, it can be absorbed through the skin, so using it in patch form has become something of the rage among the junkie population. Easier to hide, I guess. The Vory have been bringing the drug into the city and from here distributing it south into CalFree and westward into the NAN for about three years. They opponents want to start intercepting those packages."

"As I mentioned, the goal is not necessarily to get the package, just to stop it from reaching its recipients in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, I do not know the exact route nor timing of the package in transit. I do know that it's scheduled for deliver in LA in three days. Thus, you have two days to try and figure that out. If you need tickets to Los Angeles by plane or reimbursement for fuel consumption, I'm more than happy to provide that either in estimate up front or when you return. Do you have any more questions?"

@Boris and Stig:<<forwarding recent statement from Bear>>
@Team:Any loyalties or fears of the Vory the rest of us need to know about?
"While we discuss these new details, perhaps you can enlighten us a touch further.
Is there any clue as to the size of the previous packages?
Is the transporter typically civillian or Vory?
I may have other questions as my team and I discuss."
@Slacker:Has anything piqued your interest yet?

Replying to Morgan's message, Salcker texts: Initially I have found some interesting things. Doesn't look like I need to worry about being detected on his commlink, but based on what he's got running I suspect he's listening in on our comm traffic. I've set it up so my own activity will be over looked, but I think it would be too suspicious to cut out all of our comm traffic. I'm digging deep and I've found some suspect files, but their protected. As soon as I can, I'll tell you what I've found."

@Morgan
"The size of the package will be a suitcase of luggage, a large one, probably similar to this image," Bear replies while providing a small holographic display. He continues: "The transportation is generally civillian with Vory contacts. They're known to have drivers with a number of shipping companies in Seattle, whose names should be appearing to you in AR now."

Bear posts a public arrow to the wireless node that he commlink has created in this room, it reads: Covenant Transport, Alpine Shipping, Aspen Enterprises, Coolidge Logistics, FastAIR Air Freight, AllenHouse Logistic Technologies, Universal Parcel, Weyerhaueuser Shipping, BFG Logistics

Making notes of the various companies into his private commlink, Morgan appears lost in thought for a moment as he stalls for a few more precious seconds for Slacker to come through on those files.

After a moment, "Do you have a way for us to uniquely identify the package? I'd really rather not stop someone from getting their meds while the target squeaks by. With what you've told us, there may be a chance for mistaken identity. Also, to be certain, our primary objective is to ensure that the package is not received as it was shipped and to do so in some manner that will embarrass and further weaken the Vory drug trade into CalFree. So replacing contents, tainting them, or if the situation allows, cutting the drugs drastically would all fit the bill for your needs?"

@Morgan: Hmm....looks like Bear hired a team previously for this or a similar job. They failed and now he's being pressured to ensure success this time. He seems to be working for a guy named Kimmel, who is supposedly keeping a close watch on him.

<<2070-09-17 evening>>108th Street outside The Socket

Boris the Ear walk along a row of parked cars, and in front of a beat up blue Jack Rabbit, he pauses near the curbside front tire and faces the street looking out over the hood in a relaxed spread legged stance.

Awright! A bag full of New Coke!. Could set the Sevens up with a block party for a couple of days with just my cut. Those Vory guys are the ones with all those funny backwards letters. What was it Grim said, yeah yeah, backwards like the Vory themselves. Ah, that feels better. That Nu Soy Beer cleans you out real good.

Boris the Ear straightens up and moves across the street.

@Morgan/Team So who do you want me to make Wanda go down on first? One of those backwards Ruskies?

@Boris:Don't know just yet. Best to keep Wanda in storage for now.

@Morgan
"That's correct. The goal is to make the Vory look dumb. If at all possible, neither the Vory nor the recipients should know you were involved or, if they do, they hopefully won't know who you are. Thus, it'll looke like the Vory messed up. Replacing the drugs might be best, if you can pull it off. As for identifying the package, I'm not sure how best to do that, but I know the man who might. Smelly Ivan is a known Vory snitch I've used before. Put a little pressure on him, financial or otherwise, and he can usually be counted on for some good dirt."

@team:Anyone know a snitch named Smelly Ivan?

Flair unconsciously shakes her head a fraction as she mentally sends back a negative response.

Sundown shakes his head.

@Team:Never heard of him before. I'll see if I can find on him in the Matrix after the meet. For now it looks like I've found all I'm going to here. I'm going to do a little house cleaning and then log off.

"Everything seems okay on our side of the table Bear, how should we contact you when the task is complete?"

Bear looks up, after being lost in thought for a few moments, "Contacting me shouldn't be a problem. Either you can leave a message for me here at the Socket. Or, if you're in a pinch or not local you can also contact me by sending a message to this address. Use this encryption key."

As he speaks, the address and encryption key are made available via AR. For those in the know the encryption key is more than long enough to provide security against all but the most determined hackers.

"If there's nothing else, the I leave you to your work," and with a nod to Sundown, "your dinner."

Once Bear has lef the room, @Boris and Stig: The meeting is adjourned. We'll be meeting you shortly.
"Anyone else find that last exchange odd?"

@Morgan/Team Hey, I'm hungry, you got any eats left, I could use some. And did that bear guy do that touching the nose thing? It's kind of a respect thing, where you get on your belly and rub noses before sharing the meal. I found a couple cans of Nu Soy Beer, they still fizzy, anyone want some?