Logs for ShadowRN and Associated Mailing Lists

From:	Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk
Subject:	Preparations
Date:	Sat, 12 Jun 1999 16:28:58 +0100

Message no. 1 *****PRIVATE: Alba
>>>>>[You must decide soon. One way or another.

Our companions are drawing too much attention. I hear whispers and
mutters in the shadows.

And I will not let their murderous lechery cause _my_ death.

+++++begin video
The camerawoman walks into the bar, scanning the patrons rapidly:
sighting the pair she seeks, she heads for them. "Gentlemen. I'm glad to
see you."

"You're lucky. We were getting bored waiting. Weren't we, Jules?" the
larger man says.

"Quiet, Holden. Please forgive Holden's impatience, Ms. Alba, his manners
don't always measure up to his abilities." The paler-skinned, shorter,
blonde replies. "We were, though, troubled at the time it has taken to set
this up."

"Certain difficulties, and an opportunity I felt needed to be pursued."
Alba's tone is concilliatory. "Please, follow me?" She pauses to pay their bar
bill, before leading them into the car park.

The area is less than prosperous, and the car park is badly lit. Alba pauses
by the back of her Ford, opening the boot and unwrapping a cloth bundle.
"I trust these are satisfactory?"

Jules glances quickly left and right, before reaching down to lift one of the
HK227S submachineguns. He examines it quickly but thoroughly, before
replacing it and checking its twin. Both weapons look new. The accessory
kits (magazines, slings, cleaning kits, boxes of ammunition) merit the
same rapid study. "Good. Quite satisfactory. The sidearms?"

Alba nods and unwraps a smaller bundle: the short-barrelled Defiance
shotgun and the Thunderbolt machine pistol get a similar inspection, and
similarly are pronounced adequate. At a nod from Jules, Harold takes both
bundles and carefully puts them in a holdall.

"We have the tools, then. We still lack targets."

"I know." Alba nods. "Certain preconditions must be met before you can
strike." She produces two credsticks. "Perhaps this retainer may ease your
discomfort?"

"A perceptive lady." Jules treads on Harold's foot before the big man
speaks, drawing a surprised yelp of pain. "Thank you."
+++++end video]<<<<<
-- Alba <16:28:56/06-12-60>

From:	Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk
Subject:	Preparations
Date:	Sat, 12 Jun 1999 16:28:58 +0100

Message no. 2 *****PRIVATE: Alba
>>>>>[You must decide soon. One way or another.

Our companions are drawing too much attention. I hear whispers and
mutters in the shadows.

And I will not let their murderous lechery cause _my_ death.

+++++begin video
The camerawoman walks into the bar, scanning the patrons rapidly:
sighting the pair she seeks, she heads for them. "Gentlemen. I'm glad to
see you."

"You're lucky. We were getting bored waiting. Weren't we, Jules?" the
larger man says.

"Quiet, Holden. Please forgive Holden's impatience, Ms. Alba, his manners
don't always measure up to his abilities." The paler-skinned, shorter,
blonde replies. "We were, though, troubled at the time it has taken to set
this up."

"Certain difficulties, and an opportunity I felt needed to be pursued."
Alba's tone is concilliatory. "Please, follow me?" She pauses to pay their bar
bill, before leading them into the car park.

The area is less than prosperous, and the car park is badly lit. Alba pauses
by the back of her Ford, opening the boot and unwrapping a cloth bundle.
"I trust these are satisfactory?"

Jules glances quickly left and right, before reaching down to lift one of the
HK227S submachineguns. He examines it quickly but thoroughly, before
replacing it and checking its twin. Both weapons look new. The accessory
kits (magazines, slings, cleaning kits, boxes of ammunition) merit the
same rapid study. "Good. Quite satisfactory. The sidearms?"

Alba nods and unwraps a smaller bundle: the short-barrelled Defiance
shotgun and the Thunderbolt machine pistol get a similar inspection, and
similarly are pronounced adequate. At a nod from Jules, Harold takes both
bundles and carefully puts them in a holdall.

"We have the tools, then. We still lack targets."

"I know." Alba nods. "Certain preconditions must be met before you can
strike." She produces two credsticks. "Perhaps this retainer may ease your
discomfort?"

"A perceptive lady." Jules treads on Harold's foot before the big man
speaks, drawing a surprised yelp of pain. "Thank you."
+++++end video]<<<<<
-- Alba <16:28:56/06-12-60>

From:	"Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject:	Preparations
Date:	Mon, 1 Jun 1998 20:33:11 +0100

Message no. 3 *****INTERNAL: Archive
>>>>>[+++++begin transcript

EV: Unidentifed Electronic Voice
SW: Snake Woman

SW: The information required, sir.

EV: Thank you. <pause> Thank you very much. This is better than I
expected. I apologise for my anger, before. This proves me wrong.

SW: Thank you, sir. We still have a few friends from the old days, in
some interesting places. And I made some preliminary enquiries after
Wild Rose, once we found out what we actually had there. A pity we
were unable to secure the agent...

EV: Yes, it would have been very useful... but dangerous. A double-edged
knife, that could too easily turn in our hands. Or be turned against
us. No, more old-fashioned and conventional means will suffice
perfectly well here. <pause> You were unable to find a source of
Mayinga?

SW: I enquired, carefully, with our own researchers. The properties of
that strain are... uncertain. I suggested an alternative method of
distribution: I believe, one that is harder to trace and offers less
chance of compromise, with the results better understood and more
predictable.

EV: Fascinating! More complex, and more dependent on timing. But none of
the elements appear particularly difficult. Yes, that should be a
delightful endgame.

SW: The other materials can be produced locally, and to be honest would
best be done so.

EV: I know, and plans to do so are afoot. How about manpower?

SW: You will be needed for a few of the key players, but the technicians
have become quite adept at simply cauterising a conscience and
instilling a few compulsions. We have several score prepared already,
and the rest will be available by week's end. Who will be leading the
operation?

EV: Hedgerow. She has local knowledge and contacts, and has the
appropriate ruthlessness. She also understands the mission
parameters.

SW: Has she been programmed?

EV: No. If she is caught, she is the top link in the chain: all she has
to reveal is a synthetic voice. Since she was _not_ programmed, she
cannot have been one of ours. <Grating laughter>

SW: And our other agent, Furrow. The mole inside SIGA?

EV: Again, no. Coppinger is too alert, too wily for that risk. We will
have to rely on old-fashioned greed to motivate Furrow. It seems to
work well so far: it is, after all, what brought Furrow low.

SW: Good. With all due respect, I have felt that reliance on personality
implants...

EV: Is a possible weakness. Especially since the Children of Thunda use
a similar technique. Yes, I too felt that we risked leaving our
fingerprints on an operation. We are imprinting more shallowly, more
cautiously, less often, now. The Children use an interesting
variation. Crude in some ways, reliant on physical hardware that can
be detected. But also powerful, and brutally effective.

SW: Where did they acquire that skill?

EV: Who is to say they acquired it? Perhaps it is their own work.
Perhaps they acquired an imprinted agent and reverse-engineered the
basics, then expanded upon it? They strike me as a capable and
dangerous organisation, though too unbalanced to co-operate properly
with. But a useful foil to hide behind.

How many magicians do we have available?

SW: Four. I apologise for the lack-

EV: Magicians are scarce. Expendable magicians, scarcer. It should be
sufficient, given that Harrow has prepared the ground. The incidents
need not be - should not be - numerous. They merely need to be
public. Our plan proceeds well. Make sure it continues to do so.
+++++end transcript]<<<<<<
-- Narmohach <20:32:34/06-01-59>

From:	"Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject:	Preparations
Date:	Sat, 6 Jun 1998 00:06:31 +0100

Message no. 4 *****PRIVATE: Farmer Archive
>>>>>[+++++begin transcript

F: Farmer
V: Electronic Voice

F: I hope Mitchell did enough to turn Shadowland against SIGA, because
Lilith's censoring his access now. No more taunting, at least in
general.

V: It should suffice. And even without his words, his actions should
continue to cause dismay.

F: I'm not so sure there. He's been remarkably restrained. No collateral
damage, targets hit efficiently, the worst he's done so far is rough
up a reporter. Since then we've had trouble getting his work covered.

V: That, I can take care of. And he _needs_ to be effective and precise,
or we discredit ourselves. He'll have a new target soon, one that
will suit him and us perfectly. The plan?

F: Going well. We should acquire the precursor material for Finale with
ease. For Penultima, though, I'm not so sure. All the targets are
very heavily protected. We dare not use Mitchell, and shadow assets
of adequate skill would probably suffer attacks of conscience when
they realised their targets -

V: The Forsaken will do as they are told, and are appropriately
ruthless. Use them.

I would suggest a Middle Eastern target, stay far from this
continent. And if the theft is loud, so much the better, it _needs_
to be noticed in order to prevent unwanted repercussions.

F: Like Coppinger calling for a nuclear strike on the source? Yes, it
could be awkward.

Lilith is something of a problem, too. I was hoping the reversion to
Bianca might have more impact, but she seems to merely be using it to
put some... distance between herself and her memories of Lynch.

V: With Mitchell and Furrow under our control, we do of course have an
enviable opportunity to eliminate her.

<pause>

F: That would cause complications. It might cost us Furrow, for
instance, one of the carrots we're dangling for him is Lilith
reprogrammed to be his mistress. With her dead, we might lose our
inside source.

V: Find some other lure, then. But get Lilith out of the picture. She's
interfering with our plans, and I'm concerned she'll act as a brake
on Mitchell when the time comes. It should be simple enough to do.
Set up a target, with a well-placed shooter. Make sure the press are
there, too, another agent killed in the line of duty. Show them
_this_ is why we dare not use half measures.

F: I know two possibilities that I can use for the shooter. One of them,
hilariously ironic. If it's your order...

V: It is. I erred, I allowed my desire to exact personal vengeance to
cloud my judgement. She is too dangerous to play with, and now we
have our finest opportunity. Kill her, while we can.

F: As you command.
+++++end transcript

I'll miss Lilith. I miss Lynch.

Know a man by his enemies, they say. With those two dead, who do I
measure myself against?

But with them gone, the way is clear. _That_ is the prize. When I rule
North America, I'll have enemies aplenty.

Very well. Harrow can arrange matters.]<<<<<
-- Farmer <00:05:43/06-06-59>

From:	Jaimie Nicholson <jaimie.nicholson@********.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject:	Preparations
Date:	Mon, 8 Jun 1998 09:31:56 +1200

Message no. 5 *****PRIVATE: Lightning
>>>>>[I didn't get where I am today by going blind to meets in hotel rooms,
that's just asking to be set up. Can you send Chastity to see me? And get
the van ready. Also unplug Terminal, we're going to work. Umm... I'll tell
you more as it occurs to me.]<<<<<
-- Faerie <15:55:31/06-07-59>

*****PRIVATE: Faerie
>>>>>[Yes, your majesty. Anything else?]<<<<<
-- Lightning <16:12:23/06-07-59>

*****PRIVATE: Lightning
>>>>>[None of your lip, peasant.

Fit Chastity up with a microcam and burst transceiver, I'll use my comm
drone as a relay point to the van. If the curtains are open in 304 we can
make a direct laser link, that'll reduce stray noise and counter any
jamming from hotel security, go with focused radio if not. I've had a drone
drop by the Paramount, here's the footage.

+++++Include file paramnt.ftg
[Footage from a drone flying around a fairly typical hotel.]

Chastity will have to go in unarmed, there's security on all doors, and we
can't risk tripping the scanners. I'll meet her on the third floor to give
her a package, she's sorting out what to put in it now. Predators and
armoured jacket probably, if I know her at all. Anything else?]<<<<<
-- Faerie <16:58:55/06-07-59>

*****PRIVATE: Faerie
>>>>>[You want matrix checks on MultiVitamin? It's an unfamiliar name, so
it could be anyone. I'll see if anyone I know has ever heard of hxx. Back
in a while.

Also, the security in the rooms at the Paramount, any idea what it's like?
Higher the better as far as we're concerned, since we won't be starting
anything.]<<<<<
-- Lightning <17:14:41/06-07-59>

From:	"Paul J. Adam" <Shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject:	Preparations
Date:	Tue, 5 Jan 1999 23:26:59 +0000

Message no. 6 *****INTERNAL: Mitchell's Diary
>>>>>[All ready.

The room's laid out, the plans prepared, my sales pitch polished to a
gloss.

Will they accept? Or will they laugh in my face?

Will I have to kill some of them tonight?

Or will this work? It seems mad. I'm almost _relying_ on everyone else
thinking it's mad. But if I'm going to redeem myself, expose Coppinger,
then only money will pry open the locked doors before me, and only a
risk this large will provide the funds I need fast enough.

Coppinger. How could we have missed it for so long? Coppinger, the
Farmer, the spider at the centre of the web. Building his own private
empire of killers and assassins and spies, collecting a decade's worth
of blackmail evidence, destroying anyone who opposed him.

Like me. When he felt threatened, he stepped down, left SIGA leaderless,
and like the fool I am I accepted its helm. Me, Christian Mitchell, the
designated victim who took the fall for his crimes.

And he walks back into his office, like I never happened, while I end up
down with the criminal scum on the streets.

Am I any better than them? I murdered a man to be sure he wouldn't talk.
He did good work for me for two months and I killed him for it.

But I had to. I _had_ to guarantee his silence, and the decker was
greedy. He would have realised what I planned, or he would have known
what he'd done and why after I struck, and he would have sold me out in
an eyeblink. I had no choice. I had to kill him.

Damn Coppinger for forcing me to this.

Damn him to Hell.

And if I follow him there... then that was a price worth paying.]<<<<<
-- Serpent <23:25:32/01-05-60>

From:	mneideng@****.caltech.edu (Mark L. Neidengard)
Subject:	Preparations
Date:	Mon, 13 Nov 1995 08:11:38 -0800

Message no. 7 PRIVATE:Shade
>>>>>[As per our discussion, my preparations for the Quest continue. I
have
taken the liberty of contacting a few old acquaintances, but so far none of
them has said they could help. If you know of any rigged firepower that
could be brought to bear, I suspect we could use it...]<<<<<
-- Thelienista <08:08:38 / 11-13-56>

From:	Baldandar@***.com
Subject:	Re: Preparations
Date:	Mon, 13 Nov 1995 19:50:17 -0500

Message no. 8 *****Private:Thelienista
>>>>>[Yes, I do. I will get him in contact with you.]<<<<<
-- Shade <16:28:25 / 11-13-56>

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