A Dark And Hungry God Arises 28 - Sorus
Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2021 5:28 am
When Sorus Chatelaine strides into the strongroom of the Bill, she hears him ask if she's heard "what the bastards did to me" The Bill then tells Sorus that it's her fault, and that she should have been interrogating him. Sorus has no idea what the "it" is that the Bill just mentioned, but it's clear to her that the "him" is Davies. She explains to the Bill why she wasn't with Davies to torture him.
The Bill wants to know why Sorus came to the strongroom if she doesn't know what happened to Davies. Sorus informs him two people were overheard by member of her crew stating Sorus had a mutagen immunity drug, and she wants the Bill's help in identifying those two people. The Bill remarks it's an interesting coincidence, following Davies' mention of an immunity drug, and preceding Davies disappearing from his cell.
Sorus protests her disbelief at Davies being able to simply disappear, and the Bill shows her the recorded video of a lift coming down to the hallway outside of the Bill's cells, two laser beams seemingly coming out of nowhere to kill two guards, and Davies reacting to his door being opened by punching forward at the empty air. Sorus then swears that what they have just seen isn't possible. The Bill notes that a refractive jamming field could render an intruder as an unidentifiable smudge to his cameras, but that such equipment required to emit a jamming field would be bulky and difficult to move around. Sorus suggests the Amnion might be capable of a miniaturized version of refractive jamming equipment, but the Bill counters that it would have been less trouble for the Amnion to pay for Davies using money they took from Nick rather than steal Davies, and that the Amnion already had Nick where they wanted him. (Somehow, it never occurs to the Bill or Sorus that if the Amnion could have developed miniaturized refractive jamming equipment, so could the UMCP.)
Then Sorus speculates a mutagen immunity drug may actually exist, and adds they should learn the identity of the people rumormongering that she has such an immunity drug. When she tells the Bill the rumormongers were at the Paunchys bar and guesses at the time they were there, the Bill goes through his recorded video archives, sees a couple sitting at a Paunchys table near where Sorus' crewmembers had been sitting, and calls Operations to demand identification on the couple. Operations quickly returns the information that the couple are Mikka Vasaczk and Sib Mackern, both from the ship Captain's Fancy. Sorus angrily snaps that Nick is up to something very dangerous, but the Bill responds by saying Nick couldn't have abducted Davies, because he was in the Bill's strongroom talking to the Bill when Davies was taken.
[This synopsis will continue in the following posts.]
(Reading this, it occurs to me that the Bill is carelessly putting his alliance with Sorus at risk by accusing her without proof of being at fault for Davies' disappearance. He's upset that Davies is gone, of course--but he's supposed to be a better strategic thinker than this, considering the commercial empire he rules. It never seems to dawn on the Bill that had Sorus been with Davies when his rescuer(s)/abductor(s) appeared, it could mean that Sorus' corpse would have been found along with the dead bodies of the Bill's guards, rather than Sorus being able to stop Davies from leaving his cell.)Sorus permitted herself a small sigh. "I needed time to think. I wasn't sure how to tackle him. And"--she skipped a beat or two in order to focus the Bill's attention on her--"I still wasn't sure what Succorso was up to. I've tried to tell you he might be plotting something more complex than we realize. I wanted to learn more about that, if I could. It would be worth knowing in any case--it might be crucial--but it would also help me decide how to approach Davies."
Unnecessarily she concluded, "I wasn't particularly interested in torturing him just for the fun of it."
The Bill wants to know why Sorus came to the strongroom if she doesn't know what happened to Davies. Sorus informs him two people were overheard by member of her crew stating Sorus had a mutagen immunity drug, and she wants the Bill's help in identifying those two people. The Bill remarks it's an interesting coincidence, following Davies' mention of an immunity drug, and preceding Davies disappearing from his cell.
Sorus protests her disbelief at Davies being able to simply disappear, and the Bill shows her the recorded video of a lift coming down to the hallway outside of the Bill's cells, two laser beams seemingly coming out of nowhere to kill two guards, and Davies reacting to his door being opened by punching forward at the empty air. Sorus then swears that what they have just seen isn't possible. The Bill notes that a refractive jamming field could render an intruder as an unidentifiable smudge to his cameras, but that such equipment required to emit a jamming field would be bulky and difficult to move around. Sorus suggests the Amnion might be capable of a miniaturized version of refractive jamming equipment, but the Bill counters that it would have been less trouble for the Amnion to pay for Davies using money they took from Nick rather than steal Davies, and that the Amnion already had Nick where they wanted him. (Somehow, it never occurs to the Bill or Sorus that if the Amnion could have developed miniaturized refractive jamming equipment, so could the UMCP.)
Then Sorus speculates a mutagen immunity drug may actually exist, and adds they should learn the identity of the people rumormongering that she has such an immunity drug. When she tells the Bill the rumormongers were at the Paunchys bar and guesses at the time they were there, the Bill goes through his recorded video archives, sees a couple sitting at a Paunchys table near where Sorus' crewmembers had been sitting, and calls Operations to demand identification on the couple. Operations quickly returns the information that the couple are Mikka Vasaczk and Sib Mackern, both from the ship Captain's Fancy. Sorus angrily snaps that Nick is up to something very dangerous, but the Bill responds by saying Nick couldn't have abducted Davies, because he was in the Bill's strongroom talking to the Bill when Davies was taken.
[This synopsis will continue in the following posts.]