Colleen's Problem

Monday late afternoon, July 14, 2014

Jacob and Reggie headed off to Sherman park. Sure enough, Colleen Thomson was there.

Apart from Captain Lassard, it seemed no-one in STRIKE FORCE had actually known that Colleen was a fae. When HQ was informed about this on Saturday (from the party's discovery), Major Ewing, STRIKE FORCE commander of the tri-state area, took this very personally.

Colleen claimed she was fleeing for her very life.

So, Jacob and Reginald took her to a motel.

"Do you trust us?" Reggie asked.

"Um... yes," she said. "I have no-one else."

"Okay then," said Reggie. "We want to borrow Dolly for a while."

Colleen's "Dolly"

Dolly was Colleen's plastic doll which she carried around with her. Sledge had found it the day of the biker attack on the STRIKE FORCE apartment last Thursday, when he went through Lassard and Thomson's gear (after they had hurriedly fled). He had got Theo to touch the doll, and it Sixth Sense tingled.

Colleen reluctantly handed Dolly over. Reggie stayed with Colleen, while Jacob took Dolly to Siri the witch.

Siri did some identification spells on Dolly and reported that Dolly was a Fetish. This is an enchanted item that holds a ghost voluntarily. The owner of the fetish has a symbiotic relationship with the ghost; the ghost grants the holder some powers and the ghost feeds [ willpower ] off the holder. Siri could not detect any malevolence - but then she could never be always certain.

When Jacob returned to the motel with Dolly, they asked Colleen for more information.

"Dolly is my ghost companion and she lives in this doll. She helps me see into the Hisil," said Colleen. "In fact, remember that ghost at the mayor's reception? Well, Dolly helped me that day. She can also read the future if she is in a good mood."

"So she can talk to you?"

"Not out loud; she talks in my head. She showed me the future through my own eyes. I saw me being executed by a firing squad."

Apparently, that was a common method of execution used by STRIKE FORCE on evil captive veil creatures.

"But you are not evil," said Jacob.

"Not what Major Ewing thinks," said Colleen. "He is a bit of a zealot. I bet fae is his hated foe."

"But he can't just kill you like that," said Reginald. "STRIKE FORCE has set guidelines for this, and ... and there has to be a trial, a court-martial. It's in the constitution: Section 104, Courts-Martial."

"He can rig the court-martial."

"Also," said Reggie. "You aren't a full STRIKE FORCE member, because you are not human. This means you can avoid a court-martial."

Colleen had not thought of this.

"Good thing I sought out you guys," she smiled.

"We need to get you a lawyer," said Jacob.

Monday sunset 8:29 pm, July 14

Jacob and Reginald updated the rest of the party, and they updated Lieutenant Prospero.

"Bring her in," he ordered.

Lawyer Carole Christe

Everyone met at STRIKE FORCE offices.

Theo and Ebony pointed out that they needed a veil-aware lawyer and that Mina probably had trustworthy lawyers, so they got hold of Carmine Roker, Mina's curator at her gallery. Carmine was very helpful and gave them a lawyer's name: Carole Christie, of Christie and Partners law firm.

They phoned Carole and arranged to meet her at STRIKE FORCE offices. It was after sunset now, so Mina would be up. Ebony phoned her, and she was more than happy to allow Carole to help. Theo had a smug grin.

"Happy for Mina to help us now, aren't we?" he said to no-one in particular.

Major Jack Ewing

Prospero agreed with the party that Major Ewing couldn't just summarily execute Colleen Thomson, no matter how much he hated fae. And, in fact, he confirmed Reggie's statement that Ewing could not even insist that she be tried in a court-martial.

Prospero phoned STRIKE FORCE's New York HQ. When he mentioned Colleen, it did not take long for him to be put through direct to Major Ewing.

Lieutenant Prospero stood holding the telephone headset out from his ear, while Major Ewing's voice screamed out, loud and clear to all in the room.

"Bring me that sidhe bitch!" he bellowed.

Prospero kept his cool despite the onslaught of Major Ewing's apoplectic bellows. He managed to get in his words while the Major gasped air between each tirade.

"Ms Thomson has got herself a lawyer..."

More raucous bellows and screams.

"... from Christie and Partners, and the lawyer pointed out that ...

More screams.

"... that because Ms Thomson is only an honorary member of STRIKE FORCE, being non-human, she is not subject to the normal STRIKE FORCE Court-Martial process..."

More hysterical screams.

"... and can opt for a civil trial...

Screams.

"... which she has done."

Screams.

"So," said Prospero over the top of more screams. "Sir Major, sir, can you please arrange to FAX the charges through to here, and I will see that the lawyer gets them."

Prospero repeated this sentence again, despite the screams which had now descended into vile threats and disgusting invective. Then he just hung up.

Prospero insisted that Colleen stay in the STRIKE FORCE cells. Carole agreed that it might be safer anyway.

Jacob then phoned Captain Lassard, and told him that Colleen was here. Lassard left New York headed for Philadelphia straight away.

While they were doing this, Sledge, who had heard about Colleen's Dolly's prognostication abilities, asked if he could talk with Dolly. Colleen agreed.

Sledge held Dolly to his head and opened his mind. Sure enough, he heard Dolly's voice in his head [ critical Perception roll ].

"Show me my wedding day!" he crowed.

Sledge was in the church. His mind's-eye "camera" was on him and his bride Safiya standing at the altar with the priest, and they were reciting their wedding vows. The view then panned clockwise, scanned over the party and groom's family, and looked down the aisle. The church doors suddenly exploded inwards, and Morte Christe bikers (he recognized some) rushed in, spraying automatic gun-fire over the pews and guests.

Back in the real world, Sledge yelped out loud, and the image vanished.

"Is that true?!" he stammered to Colleen. "My wedding was all shot up !"

"If you do nothing, the vision is pretty accurate," said Colleen. "But you can influence the results. It is not fixed in stone."

"Get Saturday's Lotto numbers!" said Leon.

"No," said Colleen, missing the joke. "It doesn't work that way. The image you get is always related to you. You can't ask about someone else's future."

Monday late evening, July 14

Reginald, Jacob, Leon and Sledge were at Reggie's safe-house; it had just had magical protections installed (similar effect to a Shroud or the no-eavesdrop ruby) [ he bought five dots in Safe-house Security ].

The pariahs with their cursed tracking-rings, Ebony and Theo, were in the Elfrith Alley apartment. Mina was down in the cellar at the Nexus.

There was a loud knock on the door. Theo peered through the peep-hole and saw a tall thin man, wearing sunglasses, and dressed in a black trench-coat. Not willing to face this guy alone, he summoned Mina. She came up from the cellar, wearing rubber gloves, just as Theo opened the door.

Instantly, her eyes gleamed feral red, and fangs extended, as did the man at the door.

Vampire Maurice Parsons

"Maurice!" hissed Mina.

Maurice fled, at supernatural vampire speed.

"Damn!" cursed Mina. "He is one of Oberon's. Maurice Parsons. That means Oberon will know I am here."

Theo frowned.

"You need to go to Oberon now," said Mina. "It is no secret that Ebony is my bitch. But you need to tell Oberon this. That is the reason I am here. He must not, of course, know about the Nexus."

Theo nodded wanly, darkly, and headed over to the Khyber Pass Bar & Grill; Oberon's haunt.

The bodyguards knew Theo pretty well these days, so they ushered him upstairs without a word. Oberon was there with his usual bevy of women, plus Dimetrius, Marceline, and Maurice.

Oberon cut straight to the point.

"Who owns the block where your apartment is, Theo?" he asked.

"Uh, you do, sir," said Theo.

"So why is dear Mina there?" The way Oberon said the word "dear" was as far from dear as one could get.

"Um.. she is... uh Ebony is a bitch ... I mean becoming ...ghoul to Mina," said Theo.

"This I know," said Oberon. "So is it not fair for you to become ... 'bitch' (such a lovely term!) to me? Theo, my bitch?"

"No, sir," stammered Theo. "Not at all."

Oberon gave a tiny nod, and suddenly, quick as a blink, four vampires were on Theo, one holding each limb. They held Theo down, back to the floor. Maurice held his jaw painfully open with cold dry fingers. Oberon cut his own wrist and let the black blood trickle into Theo's open mouth.

Theo (and no doubt Oberon) knew that ghouling [ verb, transitive ] is an entirely voluntary thing. A vampire can not force someone to become a ghoul. The human must want it; the magic requires tacit consent.

Nevertheless, Theo did his level best not to swallow Oberon's blood. He spat it out, coughed it out, and vomitted it out. Each time he did this, one of the vampires would punch him savagely in the solar plexus. Eventually, poor Theo passed out from the ordeal.

Tuesday early morning, July 15

Theo woke up. He was naked, in an alley, covered in blood, vomit and ... Tibetan whiskey.

Theo staggered out to the street. He soon got his bearings, and stumbled back to the Elfrith Alley apartment.
'
Ebony let him in. Mina was still there. He told Ebony and Mina of the encounter, and then had a shower. Afterwards, Mina diagnosed Theo's wounds [ 6 lethal points of damage ].

"I'll get you some poultices for your injuries," she said. "I feel a trifle responsible for this."

"A 'trifle'?" he mumbled as Mina swanned out.

As soon as Mina had left, there was a knock on the door.

Ebony peered trough the peephole and saw Maurice. Theo nodded wanly, and she let him in.

Maurice wandered about the apartment, idly looking around.

"Sorry about your wounds, old chap," said Maurice. he didn't sound sorry. "Nice place you have here. You do know Oberon owns this place?"

Theo scowled.

Maurice offered his wrist.

"Like a drink?" he sneered. "It will make you feel better."

Theo shook his head. Maurice then handed over his calling card, and left. Sure enough, the card tingled with Theo's Sixth Sense.

Mina arrived back with her poultices, and she gently applied them to Theo's wounds. They were steeped in magic and tingled the whole time. Soon he was right as rain.

Maurice's card was later put on a bus to Florida.

Tuesday morning, July 15

Lieutenant Prospero tore the paper off the FAX machine. It was from the New York STRIKE FORCE offices.

15-Jul-2014
Major Jack Ewing's Offices

Charges pertaining to Fae Colleen Thomson.
Member of STRIKE FORCE from 6-Jun-2009 through to 12-Jul-2014.
Adjutant to Captain Albus Lassard 3-Aug-2009 through to 12-Jul-2014.

6-Jun-2009
Infiltration of STRIKE FORCE: 
Ms Thomson infiltrated STRIKE FORCE, evaded the screening tests with fae magic, and did not declare her veil side.

3-Aug-2009 continuous to 12-Jul-2014
Bewitching of a STRIKE FORCE officer: 
Ms Thomson did bewitch Captain Albus Lassard with her fae powers, dulling his mind, and perverting his will. 

18-Oct-2012
Accessory to Murder: 
Accessory to Escape:
Ms Thomson did knowingly fail to secure the cage of Werewolf Reginald Maudling, who then broke out and killed STRIKE FORCE Lance Corporal Trent Howes. Werewolf Maudling then escaped STRIKE FORCE premises.

30-Sep-2013
Accessory to Assault: 
Ms Thomson failed to prevent the assault of Cletis Crawdad.

5-Oct-2013
Accessory to Assault:
Ms Thomson assisted in the assault of Cletis Crawdad.

14-May-2014

Grand Theft of STRIKE FORCE property:
Ms Thomson did knowingly steal a 2013 Toyota Prius registration IBR8K4WW which belonged to STRIKE FORCE.

END