Adelstein looks wistful as the crew begins to depart. "Well, back to cleanup I guess. Bye Lt. Williams, everyone."
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"...and that's how these guys totally SAVED MY LIFE!" Adelstein says, fire in his eyes as he explains to Lt. Williams how you guys intimidated the gangster Ionescu into having one of his people confess the whole scheme to Terran Security.
"That's great, guys! What's the plan? When do we leave?"
Adelstein puts his hands to his head and grabs his hair in distress. "What am I gonna do? Does this guy have friends inside TerraSec? You guys gotta help me!"
"No, I don't know THIS Ionescu, but..." he pauses sheepishly. "just before I was due to ship out, when I was working at Mr. Deli Sub as a manager, I fired a young woman named Luiza Ionescu."
"Wait, did you say Ionescu?" Adelstein says, his brow wrinkled as if pulling out an old memory.
Do you, um, have any knowledge of these ARM people, Commander?" Adelstein asks Legion.
"I have no...you guys get...crappy sandwiches?" Adelstein looks truly confused.
"If you need somewhere to lay low, I might have a place you can stay. It's out of the way, and I've not been there in some time. If people are looking for you, somewhere they won't expect would be ideal." "Thanks. lead the way doc."
"Pardon me," Krema interjects, "But might you have your personal node on you? Or if not, a root access password? I might be able to find evidence of tampering, and if we're very lucky, even who was behind it." "I did; they closed off access after hacking into it. But this datapad had access previously." Adelstein opens the network portal app and passes the datapad over to the Vesk.
"I have no idea what v-mail messages they're talking about. I've certainly never been in touch with terrorists, not knowingly, and even accidentally, I can't see how anything I've said in v-mail could be taken as evidence of material aid. Someone must have spoofed some messages onto my personal node or something."
Adelstein motions for the group to sit, and speaks in hushed tones in the back of the cafe, pausing whenever anyone walks nearby or enters the building. "That's just it. I've got no idea where they're getting this stuff. I come home one day after visiting my old neighborhood in Chicago. I walk into the lobby and the manager pulls me aside, hands me a business card. That says 'Agent Morlese, Terran Security Agency.'" " 'These guys came here looking for you. Figured it was something to do with Space Force, so I sent them on up,' he tells me." "Now, I never heard of Terran Security delivering orders for Space Force, so I'm thinking I'd like more information before I talk with these people. Call me careful. So I head to the stairs instead of the elevator, and I turn on my camera link on my datapad." At this point, Adelstein takes out his datapad, and begins playing a video, timestamped yesterday morning.
"Commander! Doctor, Oren," David greets you as you approach. "Am I glad to see you guys. I've been at this cafe for almost a whole day trying to figure out what to do. Can't go back to my apartment." At that point, he seems to notice Lt. Krema for the first time. "Who's this?" he asks nervously.
A momentary click while the call is put through, then a no-image audio feed begins. Legion recognizes the voice immediately. "Legion, er, Commander, you gotta help me. I'm being set up for something big. The Terran Security Agency's been looking for me, and not in a good way. Something about material assistance to terrorists. I'm holed up in the old New York Space Port, you know, the one that's a big vacation spot now? Anyway. I'm sitting at a cafe at 8 in the morning wearing dark glasses. If you can think of anything to help me out of this, please get back with me."
"Rudo, ma'man, don't go getting stale stuff out of the vending machine. I got you." Adelstein runs back around the counter and comes out with a paper bag filled with something, and a small container of cheese sauce. "Here you go. Fresh-fried tortilla chips and homemade nacho cheese."
After laughing a bit at Canny Resolve's antics, Sandy takes the offered toy and nods to Rudo. "Hey, speaking of helping, I've got a helping of air-fried tater puffs an a nutrigized energy shake for a certain young lady," David says, entering the med-bay. He hands the girl a large cup filled with a brown-ish liquid and a box. Then, to doctor Yusil. "Sorry it took so long, doc. The shift change set us back a few. There's a cart for your team in the other room, assorted vegetable and fungus items and some deli sandwiches."
"Yes, I knew them. College bullies. I had a few run-ins with them back on Earth. But I don't think those two a-holes could get into Space Force. And anyway they're not on the ship's roster." Adelstein, as head of the ship's commissary, was keenly aware of everyone onboard the ship, and prided himself in learning things about them.
Outside Engineering "What the? Where the hell did they go? And how did those two bastards get on this ship?" Adelstein, clearly perturbed, says, rubbing his jaw.
Outside Engineering "Little help here, Ensign!" David says as he smacks one solidly in the face with some form of martial arts strike, and is rewarded by being tackled into the wall.
Oren walks into the room and steps up to order a decaf cappuccino and what's passes for a scone. "Of COURSE, Ensign! Saved you some fresh scones from the last batch!" Adelstein deftly weaves around his team to grab a pair of scones from the warmer. They certainly look more appealing than the ones that were sitting out.
"Always good to get a positive review." Then to the young Crewman:"You heard the Ensign's order. Grab her coffee while I duck in the back. I think I've got a couple croissant left from breakfast." A few minutes later, Adelstein comes to Oren's table with two flaky croissants and the requested cappuccino. "I was half expecting to see Lt. Williams in here tonight. Have you seen her lately?"
She then continued towards the commissary. Oren walks into the Lounge/Commissary to find Adelstein having an intense discussion with one of his underlings, a short, willow-thin young male Crewman with shaggy hair. "No, you need to be precise about that. I realize, people can request extra, but we're supposed to give out a specific quantity unless extra is requested, to minimize waste and encourage proper weight maintenance." "Oh, hi, Ensign Knightgale! Can I help you with something?"
Nodding at CPO Adelstein, Legion says in a flat, even tone, ”CPO Adelstein. I hope your day is proceeding well. Is the usual nutrient paste sythesizer functioning, or has it been repurposed to accommodate for today’s event?” "Would I do you wrong like that, Commander? Of course it's functioning! But...If you feel up to it, me and the cooks put some good effort in on some very special dishes," Adelstein says, gesturing at the buffet. "You might sample one or two on the side with your nutrient paste."
"Excuse me, doctor. I hate to interrupt, but the Captain says I've got to scan for blood alcohol level if I want to have this bar we set up," Adelstein gestures. "I've got a multi-comp here, but I don't know how to read the bio settings. Can you explain to me quick what's over .08% on this readout?" he says, holding up the scanning computer. It's the same sort you or Lt. Williams use in your duties, able to take various bio-readings and other life-science related tests.
"Ah, welcome to our new Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Yusil!" Adelstein says cheerfully as you approach the line. "Fear not. I've got some nice cazza worms, stewed glow-lichen and slab shrooms over here. One of our cooks did an internship at the Dakkar embassy in Manhattan."
"You got it, at your service as always." He gives her a heaping helping of each.
"Good to see you again Lieutenant. Your face always brightens a room. Got some Southern style BBQ brisket here, fried green tomatoes, and some potato and leek soup down at the soup station. What can I get for you?" The man is very attentive, waiting for her response patiently despite the line queueing up.
Chief Petty Officer David Adelstein was born in Chicago, Illinois in the year 2227. He's the Commissary Chief aboard the OSF Guangzhou; he also he makes a mean deli sandwich. |