1100-002 - The Partners join an IISS Volunteer Emergency Survey

 

1200 – 1800 - Madeline ap-Corserra finishes the Partners' briefing, and gets them badges granting them  access to facilities inside the Regina IISS base (including the gym, the range, the commisary, and the VES's Ready Room. The Partners mention to Madeline that they might do a side job for TekImport while the An Lang is being outfitted; Madeline cautions them. The Partners meet Madeline's second-in-command and the An Lang's Chief Engineer, a female Vargr named Saeagang Uztsuee. The afternoon is spent between the Ready Room (where Froge, Leah, and Martaan discuss ship's armaments, software, and power plant requirements with Madeline and Saegang), and the base's firing range, where a retired Marine named Pug serves as the Range Safety Officer. Pug helps the Partners try out a variety of firearms and orders them weapons and ammunition for the VES. The Partners return to the Ready Room, find Saegang gone, and ask Madeline if she wants to join them for dinner. She declines, but suggests that they might meet a fellow VES member, the Tactical Officer Grigor Phelleps, at the Travellers' Aid Society bar.

1800 – 1900 – The Partners arrive at TAS and find the bar almost deserted. A man and a woman are sitting at a table in the corner, while a young man, extremely drunk and dressed in Imperial Army fatigues bearing a Major's insignia, is loudly proclaiming to Arbellatra and anyone else that he is going on a secret mission to battle "alien tech." This turns out to be the afore-mentioned Tactical Officer Grigor Phelleps. Martaan sits down with Grigor to talk to him, while Arbellatra whispers to Froge that Phelleps has been at the bar for a while now, is very drunk, and she's pretty sure that the stuff he's talking about isn't appropriate for a public setting. Martaan helps Grigor to bed (he's staying on the same floor at TAS), removes the liquor from his room and leaves it at TAS's front desk, and then rejoins Froge at the bar, where he gets a big hug from Arbellatra. While all this is taking place, Leah is bemusedly making her way through the appetizer menu.

1900 – 2200 – The Partners sit down for dinner, only to find themselves joined by the man and woman who have been at the bar's corner table. They introduce themselves as Jelph (a tall, handsome man with perfect teeth, who looks like a holographic entertainment star) and Dandelion (a tiny woman with obvious cybernetic implants). They claim to be from TekImport, and remark that they will address Grigor's behavior and breach of VES security. They excuse themselves, stating that they will most likely meet the Partners later. The Partners message Madeline about Grigor; she responds tersely that the situation is being addressed. The Partners have a leisurely dinner and drinks; Froge and Arbellatra make tentative plans for a date after Arbellatra finishes her bartending shift. 

2200 – 2330 - The Partners call it a night— Leah walks back to her ship, Martaan departs for the gym, and Froge heads up to his room to freshen up for a night out with Arbellatra. While getting off the elevator, Froge encounters two burly young men wearing work clothes labeled "Ed's Cleaning" carrying a lumpy-looking rug with a surprising bulge in its center. The two young men try to avoid eye contact with Froge as he makes small talk with them; at one point, Froge hears a faint hiccup and the words "alien tech" issue from the rug. He calls the other Partners to warn them that Grigor is being kidnapped; the Partners leave their comm devices in a shared conference mode as they head back to the TAS lobby. 

Martaan runs up from the downstairs gym into the TAS lobby, finds it empty, glances around and identifies the door from the lobby into the service portion of the TAS facility. Dashing through, he sees two men loading a rug (which grunts in protest) into a service elevator. (Meanwhile, Leah is threading her way through the crowd as quickly as she can on her way back to TAS, and Froge has taken the elevator down to the lobby and is looking for the kidnapers.) Seeing the two kidnappers distracted with rug, Martaan surprises them, rushing the elevator, and solidly punching the nearest one. The second kidnapper fumbles for something in his pocket, but Martaan has the initiative and strikes first, throwing a solid punch that stuns him. Unfortunately, this gives a moment for the first kidnapper to act— he draws a snub-nosed pistol and shoots Martaan with some kind of dissolving gelatin dart. Martaan struggles to remain conscious, but feels himself slipping down onto the polished floor. The last thing he sees is the first kidnapper scooping up his personal comms device as the elevator door closes and begins to ascend.

By this point, Leah and Froge have made their way into the TAS lobby. They find their way into the service portion of TAS, locate Martaan, wake him, and help him to a couch in the lobby. Leah and Froge are convinced that the kidnappers will be leaving the hotel from a vehicle stored in an underground garage, but they are unable to find a garage egress and intercept the vehicle. Leah hacks together a tracking app to find Martaan's comms device, and detects it traveling at speed and altitude away from TAS. She realizes the kidnappers must have had a grav vehicle on the roof, and they are leaving Grigor. Martaan's comm signal abruptly cuts out. The TAS night manager is clearly frightened, and wants to distance himself from the evening's events. Leah hears from the kidnappers that they must meet them at TekImport tomorrow at noon to retrieve Martaan's comm device and explain themselves. The Partners also hear from Madeline, who seems a little irritated at the turn the Partners' evening has taken. 

Arbellatra, leaving her bartending shift, sees Froge briefly in the TAS lobby. He tells her that this might not be a good night to visit with each other. She agrees and urges him, "Be careful!" The Partners finally turn in for the night. Leah orders new comms devices for the Partners.

1100-003 - TekImport

 

0600 – 0900 - The Partners wake up, eat breakfast, and steel themselves for the day ahead.

1100 – New comms devices are delivered to TAS; the Partners head out to TekImport.

1200 – The Partners are greeted at TekImport by a furious-seeming individual who walks them into a conference room containing Jelph, Dandelion, and Count Quinlan ap-Corserra. Martaan explains his reasons for intervening at TAS— he couldn't be certain who was kidnapping Grigor Phelleps, and didn't want to put the VES in jeopardy. Count Quinlan nods once after Martaan finishes. The unknown man begins to upbraided Jelph and Dandelion for theirs sloppy fieldcraft, and is in turn upbraided by Count Quinlan for their lack of subtlety and imagination. Both the unknown man and Count Quinlan apologize to the Partners for the way this situation was handled.

1100-03 – TekImport 

1200 – 1330 – Following an apology from Count Quinlan ap-Corserra and some of the operatives at TekImport, the Partners are briefed on an opportunity to help smuggle Dandelion into Phizab Pharmaceuticals, and provide security for her while she is there, so that she can steal data from the air-gapped research network. The mission is scheduled for 1100-010. The Partners accept. They are given directions to a TekImport safe house which they can use for planning and materials storage. They are also instructed to develop a plan and return to TekImport to brief the unnamed man and his agents at 0900 on 1100-006.

1330 – 1400 – The Partners make their way back to IISS and the VES Ready Room.

1400 – 1630 – The Partners meet three new VES team members—  

• Dr. Soto Odayaka, the VES's physician and Surgeon. An order gentleman, originally from Terra
• Lieutenant Commander Elwen ap-Floran, the VES's Navigator, a young officer on loan from the Imperial Navy
• Pinkie Werdast, one of the sensor team serving under Leah, a former asteroid miner

In addition, they are briefed on the Djinni system itself, and on hypotheses regarding the Ancients. Elwen requests Leah review his course to jump into the system without being immediately visible via sensors by the mysterious asteroid. Madeline requests Leah come to a morning interview with an academic with background in the Ancients' civilization that she is considering for the VES.

1630 – 1900 - Leah purchases some surveillance technology and begins an initial survey of Phizab. Martaan and Froge begin looking for a rental property called "the safe house's safe house", so that they can have a base of operations, and a place to retreat to, in case things sour with TekImport or Phizab. They make an appointment to see a commercial property the following morning. 

1900 – 2200 - The Partners have dinner at the Travellers' Aid Society. Martaan hits the gym. Froge trades messages with Arbellatra, making a dinner date for two days hence. Leah checks Elwen's course, and does some more research on their current projects. All retire to their respective beds, expecting an early morning.

1100-04 – Travellers' Aid Society

0630 – 0800 – Leah rises, breakfasts, and realizes she has received a mysterious message from an unknown ID inviting her to a meeting at 1000. She counter-offers with an 1100 meeting at TAS, which the unknown party declines, citing privacy concerns. After a discussion, the Partners decide to rent a meeting room at a collaborative work space.

0630 – 0900 -  Froge and Martaan rise, breakfast, trade messages with Leah about the mysterious meeting she has been invited to, and then go and meet with Edt, a young real estate broker showing a property for his father. Charming Edt, they rent the property, but fail to do so completely anonymously.

Future Meetings

• 1100-004 0800 – Madeline and Leah's breakfast meeting with their academic candidate
• 1100-004 1100 – Meeting with the unknown ID
• 1100-005 – Froge's date with Arbellatra
• 1100-006 0900 – The Partners brief TekImport on their Phizab proposal

1100-04 – Regina Starport

1530 -1630 - Settled at a table in the IISS cafeteria, the Partners caucus on the Phizab job. Leah leverages AI and machine learning to interpret the data the Partners have acquired, messaging Dandelion at TekImport looking for specific data and other preparatory elements.

1630 – 1700 Sitting at their table in the cafeteria, the Partners see Madeline ap-Corserra enter IISS with the same slender, fit-looking man with a dirty-blonde forelock that they met earlier that day in the PodThinkers conference room. Martaan, curious, slips downstairs to the range ask Pug if he knows anything about this stranger, but Pug does not. Intrigued, the Partners wander back up to the team's ready room; Froge chats with Saeagang about the newcomer; she seems a little concerned. They see Madeline interviewing the stranger for the position of Tactical Officer on the An Lang's crew, and he accepts. Madeline introduces him as Fitz Gandrell. Fitz introduces himself to the rest of the crew, and goes to work cleaning and preparing a curious item- a Gauss rifle made entirely out of plastic, making it invisible to most weapons detection systems.

1700 – 1800 - As the workday ends, crew members begin to drift out of the ready room; the Partners invite Dr. Pascal Lentevi to dinner with them at the Travellers' Aid Society. At a nearby table sits Count Quinlan ap-Corserra, deep in conversation with some dinner companions. Over dinner and drinks, Dr. Lentevi is briefed on the Phizab mission, and joins the Partners in conspiracy.

1800 – 1900 During dinner, the manager of the Travellers' Aid Society discreetly informs Froge Brison and Martaan Anders that their rooms were burgled earlier that afternoon, between 1430 and 1500, by two men in gorilla suits. A number of other details emerge- the burglars were able to defeat some of TAS's countermeasures, but not all of them. It turns out that nothing was removed from either Froge's or Martaan's rooms, and there is no indication that anything was tampered with. The Partners tell Count Quinlan, who whisks them, and Dr. Pascal Lentevi with them, off to TekImport, using his private grav vehicle and driver.

1900 – 2030 The Partners introduce Dr. Pascal Lentevi as part of their team, brief the irritable crew-cut man and Dandelion on what happened, and later present him and Dandelion their plan to break into Phizab as well. The crew-cut man then fills in the conspirators on the nature of the break-in- TekImport, which is "loyal to the Duke and the Emperor" is conducting a counterintelligence investigation; they have evidence that Phizab has unwittingly become involved with something that they don't understand.

In the middle of this, Jelph returns from a bug sweep of Froge's or Martaan's rooms, where his team found only commercial-grade surveillance devices, which would have to be manually serviced. Dr. Laria, reasoning about the break-in at TAS, suggests that the cleaning staff at TAS should be investigated, as they could easily retrieve and service the listening devices the burglars left behind.

2030 – 2100 - The conspirators accept a lift home from Count Quinlan. Dr. Lentevi is left at his apartment, Dr. Laria at IISS and Leah's Delight, while Martaan, Froge, and the Count himself return to TAS. 

2100 – 2230 - Fitz contacts Dr. Laria, asking if he can borrow a stateroom aboard Leah's Delight.  

Pinkie messages the crew: "Hey, amigos! Pinkie here, on the secure VES channel. Some asshole broke into my buddy’s place where I was sleeping on the foldout and went through my stuff! Can you believe it? I didn’t have anything of real value— mostly portable prospecting gear, but what the Hell! Regina used to be a pretty safe town! Nothing was taken, but I hate putting Aliz through this kind of bother. Skipper, any idea if this is related to our mission? Should I call the law? Comp sci docs—- any chance you could check the calibration on my gear? This is spoiling a perfectly good day! Yours in ever-increasing annoyance, —Pinkie"

Madeline reports to Leah that she did let Fitz know about Leah's Delight. She also reports to the crew that Soto's place was also burgled, and that her brother, and "Station Chief del'Zed" (?!) informed her that Martaan's and Froge's rooms were broken into at TAS.

Fitz turns down a berth on Leah's Delight, looking instead for a cheap place to stay where he could conceivably ambush a burglar.

Saeagang checks in with the crew, sending her sympathy for the recent spate of burglaries. Lieutenant Commander Elwen ap-Floran also reports in, just to let everyone know he is OK.

Leah points out that the crew must meet immediately tomorrow to establish a duress code and an authentication code for future interactions; Madeline regretfully agrees.

The day ends on the following note from the Referee—

"In their rooms at TAS, Martaan and Froge shifted uneasily under their high thread count sheets, weapons on the nightstand. Gazing at his comm, Pascal read about the break-ins on the cheap couch in the messy living room of his apartment, as his roommate Gyllyan pwned n00bs in Interstellwars, and wondered what in the Ten Thousand Suns he had gotten into. In the fresher aboard a 100 ton Sulieman scout ship, Leah brushed her teeth, thinking of phrases that were unique enough to be uncommon in general conversation, and yet still innocuous. Assuming the lotus posture, Dr. Soto straightened his back and gazed resolutely at the featureless wall of his room, seeking why Bodhidharma had come from the East. Saeagang, brushed her tail, fretting about Madeline. Rooms away, Madeline quivered with exhaustion and frustration, as a tiny, elfin, curly-blonde-haired woman briefed her over a heavily-encrypted link. Lt. Commander Elwan ap-Floran rolled over in his rack into a dream where he apprehended a miscreant and felt, for once, a little confidence in his own abilities. Across the city, grinning wolfishly, Fitz checked himself into Cheaphotel, requesting a room on the end of a hallway on the fifth floor. Bantering and bullshitting his way through the ID check, his left hand closed reassuringly on the handle of a long, slender, razor-sharp knife."

1100-005 - Regina Starport

0700 - The Partners meet at IISS for breakfast, and establish a duress code ("Pixie"). Garrivan del'Zed informs the Partners that he wants to advance the time frame of the job for TekImport.

0800 – 0930 - Fitz and Saegang join the Partners; Fitz leaves through a different exit, heading back to his hotel, in the hopes of ambushing whomever is stalking the VES. Martaan and Froge leave and order cleaning company uniforms from a local merchant, Julius. 

0830 – 1000 – Leah and Pascal go to the safehouse, to test out the drones they have purchased. At

1000 – 1100 -  Martaan and Froge join Leah and Pascal at the safehouse, and continue prep for their TekImport mission.

1100 – 1230 The Partners receive from a call from Fitz- he's apprehended someone trying to bug his hotel room, but has been stabbed. He asks for a pickup from the Partners. Madeline finds a grav service vehicle, and has it delivered outside the safehouse. Madeline drives the Partners to Cheaphotel.

1230 – 1315 - Froge bribes his way up to Fitz's room in Cheaphotel. He patches up Fitz, and they load  the intruder Fitz has captured and trussed up (Strangka Artaking) through Fitz's window and into the hovering service vehicle. The Partners call Madeline to let her know what they've done; Dr. Soto, watching his comm, learns of the Partner's predicament, and agrees to meet the grav van. The Partners leave with their captive, planning to rendezvous with Soto in a quiet parking garage nearby. Fitz stays to "clean up" after the bloody encounter, ultimately burning part of the room's rug in the tub. 

1315 - 1345 - Parked in a parking garage, the Partners, Soto, and Fitz interrogate Strangka. They then plan to snatch Strangka's partner (Dagratha) who is surveilling IISS. 

1345 – 1415 – With Leah, driving, and Froge and Martaan doing countersurveillance, the team tranquilizes and snatches Dagratha from out in front of IISS' Regina headquarters. They then take her to IISS, where she is sedated and held in an improvised holding cell at Pug's firing range. In the midst of debriefing Madeline and Saegang, Pascal gets a call from one of their adversaries, the former pirate, who is calling from his apartment using his roommate Gyllyan's comm. He has taken Gyllan captive, painfully so, and wants to force an exchange with Dagratha.

1100 – 005 – Regina Starport, IISS

1415 -1445 - After receiving the call from Gyllyan's captor, Madeline orders everyone up to the ready room, states that the VES team will handle the exchange of kidnap victims, and hands mission planning for the operation over to Martaan, asking Fitz to stand down and follow Martaan's lead. She tells the group they have 45 minutes to make a plan.

Madeline engages the folks at TekImport, in the person of Dandelion, to provide a communications network and imagery support for the exchange; Pinkie will stay behind and provide communication support for Dandelion. (Leah has already tasked the Partners' drones to Grace Park as well.) Garrivan del'Zed requests Madeline's permission to station a platoon of Imperial Marines in battledress (known colloquially as "the Heavy Mob") nearby to control the situation if it gets out of hand, and Madeline agrees.

Martaan quickly tasks all VES team members, sending Fitz ahead to the park as an advanced scout. Martaan splits the team into two vehicles— van #1 (Leah driving, with Soto, Pascal, and a heavily-sedated Dagratha) and van #2 (Elwen driving, with Froge and Martaan). Pascal knows Gyllyan and will be responsible for negotiating the exchange; Soto will be present to handle Dagratha and treat Gyllyan. Froge and Martaan, armed with body pistols fitted with tranquilizing rounds, will be responsible for providing tactical support for Pascal. Madeline decides to also be on site, as ultimately this is Madeline's team and her responsibility; Saegang volunteers to drive her. The team leaves for the rendezvous at 1445.

1432 - Fitz arrives at Grace Park and lucks out, findng a recon position in a tree fort built for kids visiting the Park.

1445 – 1500 TekImport reports imagery surveillance of the Park is in place. Dandelion remarks that the Park's tree cover will place limits on visibility. They have also located Gyllyan and her kidnaper by geolocating her comm device and then identifying the comm device nearest to hers for the period of the previous 45 minutes. By tasking a drone to track this signal, Dandelion is able to match the face of a young woman with her student ID photo from the University of Regina- it is in fact Gyllyan.

In addition, through retroactive network analysis of comm traffic from Strangka's and Dagratha's devices, they are able to locate three other likely associates—Gyllyan's kidnaper, someone in a 200 ton Free Trader at Regina Downport, and a third individual, also in the port, approaching the Free Trader.

1452 - An alarm is raised in Regina Downport about shots fired in or near the 200T Free Trader that Dandelion has identified as the source of signals for at least one of Strangka and Dagratha's associates.  

1500 - The VES team members arrives on station at the Park. Madeline and Saegang are able to ID the kidnaper and Gyllyan in an autocab headed to the Park. They see the kidnaper, his face furious, through a comm device out of the autocab's window into traffic.

1503 – Dandelion notes movement of two of the comm devices she's tracking— the two belonging to the individuals in port at Regina Downport— and notes a final static position away from the Free Trader.

1506 - Regina Downport police, investigating reports of shots fired, arrive at the Free Trader The Golden Fleece and report that its owner, Arkassa Ushir, has died from gunshot wounds.

1515 – 1615 - Martaan and Froge take up position in the crowd. The kidnaper is reluctant to let Gyllyan go, trying to force the Partners to release Dagratha first, even drawing his blade, but Pascal negotiates the exchange of Gyllyan, whose arm is apparently broken. As the captives are walking towards each other, Martaan seizes the initiative and tranquilizes the kidnaper, and Madeline calls in the Heavy Mob to secure the scene.

Soto triages Gyllyan, and Madeline drives her and Pascal to the Imperial Navy base. Saegang rides with Martaan and Froge, having secured a bottle of Menorbi Bluebreast 12 Year Old Whiskey. The Heavy Mob takes the kidnaper (identified as Sikashuud Undua, who is wanted for piracy) to the brig there, along with Dagratha (who seems traumatized, and periodically bursts into tears), and Strangka, who is transferred from IISS. Garrivan del'Zed debriefs the participants, discussing what they found at The Golden Fleece crime scene: an epic (if inexpert) firefight ensued aboard ship, one of the two participants shot up the ship's computer, and significantly, one of the participants was genetically Zhodani.

After the briefing, the VES members scatter—

• Pascal goes to Gyllyan's room in the Naval hospital;
• after asking and receiving Leah's permission, Pinkie and Elwen go to Pinkie's friend's apartment to get his stuff and stay aboard Leah's Delight until the An Lang leaves for the Djinni system;
• Fitz also asks permission to borrow a cabin aboard Leah's Delight, and after receiving permission, promptly falls asleep under the briefing room conference table;
• Leah buys Dandelion pizza, which they share, as Dandelion pulls overtime on forensic analysis of the recovered comm systems;
• Martaan and Jelph take a trip to the crime scene aboard The Golden Fleece;
• Strangka and Dagratha return to the Naval brig, accompanied by Soto, who wants to make sure they are OK;
• Madeline is saddled with a variety of forms, reports, and filings associated with the days' events, especially as she has to justify the group's criminal activity (two kidnappings) in the context of both operational parameters, Imperial law, and Regina law; 
• Froge returns to his room at the Travellers Aid Society to prepare for his date with Arbellatra, only to receive both unwanted advice and unasked-for information about her. It turns out she is none other than the Lady Arbellatra van'Leyth, of a prominent family related to Duke Norris. Dandelion, who anomalously knows of their dinner plans, advises Froge that "ladies like flowers," while Saegang presents him with a little box of candy as a present for his dinner companion.

1100 – 005 – Regina Starport

1830 – 1900 Burdened with candy, flowers, and unsolicited advice from his well-meaning friends and colleagues, and dressed in his service dress blues, Froge picks up Arbellatra for their dinner date at her apartment in a tasteful, modern building in a nice neighborhood just outside the starport. She wears something elegant, flowing, and a little bohemian. They amble through the streets of Regina together until they come to one of Arbellatra's favorite restaurants and their dinner destination- "De Melkwegg - Old Terran Cuisine." 

1900 – 1915 - Seated at their table, Arbellatra notices Teo, the former night manager of the Travellers' Aid Society dining with someone Arbellatra doesn't know. (Froge met Teo the night Grigor Phelleps was being kidnapped.)  Arbellatra uses her comm to surreptitiously take a photo of Teo and his associate having dinner under the guise of taking a picture of Froge; she subsequently comms it to Froge, who sends it on to the Partners. Froge recognizes the eyes of the man Teo is having dinner with, and suspects it is "Mr. Jones." Arbellatra and Froge's worst suspicions are confirmed when Teo silently mouthes "help!" to them, as his dinner companion abruptly leaves their table, dragging Teo with him. Froge and Arbellatra follow. In the meantime, Leah has contacted Madeline about this development, and Madeline has in turn contacted Garrivan del'Zed.

1915 – 1924 - Emerging from the restaurant, Froge and Arbellatra first lose, and then find, their quarry. Mr. Jones has dragged Teo in a deserted side street and is clearly trying to eliminate him. Arbellatra and Froge confront Mr. Jones, who shoots at them, allowing Teo to break free and run. Mr. Jones sprints off as well, and Froge and Arbellatra give chase. Meanwhile, the Partners are all converging, from various locations and distances, on Froge and Arbellatra, to render support.

1925 – 1929 - Fleeing his pursuers, Mr. Jones runs into a particularly dark cul-de-sac of an alley off a main thoroughfare.  Based on their reading of the local maps via their comms, Froge and Arbellatra think they have him cornered. Suddenly, they hear a shot. Unknown to them, Mr. Jones has shot his way into the basement of one of the buildings off of the alley. Froge tries to talk to Mr. Jones and gets no response. Carried away with excitement, Arbellatra turns the illumination on her comm up to full, holds it over her head, and whooping and hollering, runs into the alleyway.  She finds it deserted, and a basement door yawning open.  Not unkindly, Froge urges her to not to get unnecessarily killed. 

1930 – 1934 - Pascal is first on the scene. He and Froge hurl a trashcan into the yawning basement door, trying to flush out Mr. Jones and draw fire; nothing happens. They then enter and begin to explore the basement, finding it full of little storage areas for the apartments above, and largely deserted.

1935 - Martaan and Leah are next on the scene. Leah joins the Arbellatra, Froge, and Pascal in the alley. Martaan decides to try the front door of the shop on first floor; he surprises Mr. Jones trying to leave through this door; he shoots Martaan at point-blank. However, the low muzzle velocity from his silenced body-pistol, coupled with his poor marksmanship and Martaan's combat environment suit, result in the bullet glancing off, bruising Martaan's ribs. Mr. Jones utters, "I don't believe it!" He and Martaan struggle, and Martaan grapples him and knocks him unconscious.  

1936 – 2400 - Much to his chagrin, Arbellatra takes a photo of Mr. Jones in the custody of the Partners, and declares "Best date ever!"  Almost immediately, Jelph swings by in a prisoner transport borrowed from the Imperial Navy. He has managed to retrieve a shaken Teo, who is horrified that he was unknowingly aiding an enemy of the Imperium. Mr. Jones is loaded into the transport, and Pascal, Leah, and Martaan accompany Jelph back to the Imperial Naval facility, to debrief Teo and process Mr. Jones, who turns out to be a Zhodani spy operating under non-official cover, and therefore exempt from diplomatic immunity.  The Partners end their evening on the roof of one of the Naval buildings, sharing a rare cigar with the Imperial Intelligence Service's Chief of Station for Regina.

Garrivan del'Zed charitably decides that Froge and Arbellatra will have ample time to fill out paperwork and be debriefed, and that they should continue their interrupted date. They wander around Regina enjoying each other's company, discussing Arbellatra's family and their ambitions for her, and Froge's life in the Navy. Over the course of their ramblings, they each confide to each other that they will genuinely miss each other when Froge has to leave for the VES. Ultimately, they find themselves back at Arbellatra's apartment, around midnight. Arbellatra invites Froge into her bedroom, hangs his naval sash on her bedroom's doorknob, and closes the door behind them.