The PCs were released by the police early on the morning after they were arrested. Their lawyer had pointed out that the police would find it hard to deport them since the Ocherland teleport was still non-functional. They returned to the hotel and caught the news.
The bomb in the Ocherland teleport had been defused, but the containment system had had to be shut down and now wouldn't restart. The Western Union had claimed responsibility for the bomob in the teleport station. Many prisoners had escaped from the prison. The PCs decided against visiting the prison, and instead emailed Cassandra from a free account they set up for the purpose. They also checked the bugs they had set on Arturo Weaver, Dr Kuczynski, and Prof Hobson.
Weaver had returned home the previous evening and had again stayed up until the small hours typing. Kuczynski had left her house. Early on the current morning, someone had broken in and searched the place, swearing a lot. It sounded like Cassandra. Hobson had not used his phone at all.
Cassandra replied to Leigh's mail as follows:
Dear Mr Leigh, I heard that the police aren't charging you. There doesn't seem to be much point trying to prove the evidence was faked now, because they can get him for the breakout. Now he's out, I am going to join him. If you are really looking for stolen property, then perhaps we can make an arragement. I think he would give it back in return for being left alone. You can contact me at this address; use this key. I will check it when I can. Obviously there's no point in my signing with that key, but I think the signature will prove who the message is from. Cassandra (signed with Leigh's own Vega private key)Leigh replied:
And there was me thinking you would want to see me again because of my dazzling smile! Somehow I don't think your 'friend' (really, how can you prefer that fishing hat to my eyes, I'll never understand) is going to want to return our property, but if you think you can convince him to meet up with us, just give me a time and location. I'm sure we can come up with a mutually satisfactory deal! x Leigh
At this point there was a news flash- there had been a major explosion at the University's Institute of Teleportation. It was initially thought that the teleport's containment system had failed. Most of the escaped prisoners from the Massen Rehabilitation Centre had been recaptured; only Angelos and one Mark Gates were still free. Bo and Noah headed out to the Institute of Teleportation to offer their services in looking for bodies.
Bo and Noah were asked to help dig for bodies. They observed that the damage was not the sort of thing you'd expect from a teleport containment failure and it looked more like a bomb. This was confirmed by Daisy, a postdoc who Bo got chatting to. She had been working on the teleport the previous night and had seen two strange men in the building. At the time she had thought they were visiting scientists. They were described as a very large bald guy in his forties, and shorter blond guy with one finger missing. Bo told Daisy she should report this to the police. Daisy did so and came bouncing back with the news that the police had the security records for the teleporter building and had discovered that one member of staff had been swiped in the previous night who insisted she hadn't been there in reality. This was an electrician called Kerry Caddell. Daisy also let slip that most of the researchers used the experimental teleporter for smalltime smuggling and that it could take up to 100kg into orbit at a time.
Daisy introduced them to Kerry, who seemed very defensive and insistent that the Western Union had been responsible for the blast. She left at the first opportunity and went home. Noah and Bo tailed her. She tried to call someone; Kale passed the number onto Larzuc who was unable to immediately identify it, but suddenly remembered that Helen had told them about a helpful contact in the local Vega organisation. Larzuc took the number to this person, Clive Saxl, who told him it was the number of The Beach. Saxl happily agreed to set the local Vega people onto investigating Kerry and The Beach, and set off for a bit of field research combined with a liquid lunch.
Noah knocked on Kerry's door. She opened it, and when she recognised him from the Institute she attacked him. He managed to stun her after a short struggle. Larzuc hired a motel room in the area and all the PCs converged on it with the unconscious Kerry. She was persuaded to tell them that she had been trying to phone her boyfriend, whose name was Ard. Ard knew Cassandra and Kerry suspected that Cassandra had the ability to copy Kerry's smartcard. Ard was a smalltime drug smuggler and also knew something about explosives. Kerry thought that Ard had used her card to get into the Institute the previous night, but not why. Ard's description fitted that of the blond man seen by Daisy.
Another news flash: the breakout at the jail had been combined with a very large explosion. The bomb at the Ocherland teleport station had been found with a copy of the WU manifesto wrapped around it. Gates and Angelos had not been recaptured.
Larzuc did some more research on Vanderdecker, Cassandra's alleged boss. He was originally from Lucasson and had once been a researcher on telportation and hyperdrive. He had published some papers in the past, but nothing for the last 15 years.
Larzuc also checked up on Gates. He was a xenopaleographer from Meakin University in the North Territory. He was in jail for stealing and selling artefacts from archeological sites. He had been sentenced about six months previously to serve eight years. He was caught while working on the Troiano Heights site.
About this point the geopgraphy of Cebalrai was elucidated. West Territory is separated from Ocherland and North Territory by a sea. North and Ocherland are joined by a narrow land bridge. The border is currently heavily controlled due to the problems in North Territory. Getting back into Ocherland from North Territory could be hard.
Cassandra replied to Leigh's email:
Dear Mr Leigh, I'm afraid I can't put you in touch with Angelos just yet. There have been some delays. I'll get in touch when I know more. CassandraLeigh replied:
So you can break into my computer but you can't take a hint. It's Leigh. Just Leigh. Sheesh! x
The PCs headed to The Beach (Leigh purchasing a fishing hat on the way), where they found Clive Saxl chatting to the bartender. The bartender proved very friendly and happy to talk about Vanderdecker, Cassandra, and co. He mentioned that he hadn't seen any of the gang other than Cassandra since the previous week. 'The gang' comprised at least Vanderdecker, Ard, Henta, Leslie, Kuczynski, and Cassandra. Ard's last name was Esveld and he had left a very large bar tab, which Leigh paid off.
The PCs realised that they hadn't done anything about Bo's memory stick yet, and it occurred to Larzuc that Cassandra was the perfect person to ask to help crack it. They mailed her and asked to meet up. Cassandra mailed back and said that she would do the job because she needed money, but that they would have to mail it to her as she was no longer in Ocherland. She called Leigh Leigh, at which point he lost interest.
A little digging on Ard Esveld revealed that he had a conviction for possession of quiggin, the same drug that Angelos was sent down for dealing, but that Ard had received a suspended sentence.
The PCs speculated wildly that the exploding teleports were all a plot on the part of West Territory to control all access to the planet, that Vanderdecker's gang had been responsible for either or both of the teleporter incidents and/or the jail break, that they were working with the WU, that Angelos was being chased by Vega because he knew why hedgehogs made crop circles, or that Rayearth Group had strange alien technology. At this point West Territory announced its secession from the Cebalrai Planetary Federation.