Take Prisoners Back
It takes some doing, but you and Kvarau manage to pull off the webbing on your prisoners’ legs. After that, it’s easy enough to get them on their feet.
Before leaving the camp, you retrieve a canister of medifoam from the first-aid kit in the exo and give the wound on your leg a good spray. The foam hardens into an antiseptic, semi-flexible bandage that you know from experience will let you walk back without having to worry about bleeding out.
The return trip takes twice the time. Herding your five prisoners requires constant vigilance, and they do nothing to make the task easy. Wherever possible they delay by tripping on roots, lingering, misunderstanding orders, and generally stonewalling. It’s enough to make you worry that they have compatriots nearby who might be foolish enough to attempt a rescue.
They’d have to be very foolish indeed. The Caretakers accompany your small group. They keep to a reasonable distance, but there’s no doubt in your mind that if someone attacked—or if one of the prisoners made a break for it—they would leap into deadly action.
You encounter no sign of Marines or any other UMC personnel on the way back. Their absence does nothing but strengthen your suspicions.
At the end of the wilds, you stumble out into the bright, open spaces of the finished, inhabited section of Unity. Down the concourse, several people look with interest and some wariness at you, Kvarau, and your prisoners.
The Jelly turns to you. “I will go now, human, and deal with this.” It lifts the lowsound nearscent orb. “The great and mighty Lphet will hear of this treachery. It shall be chipped out from every Arm, every conclave and nesting ground. This I promise.”
You clap Kvarau on the shoulder. The alien doesn’t flinch. “I believe you. Good luck.”
“May the currents be with you as well, human.”
Then Kvarau strides off, heading toward the Jelly-occupied part of the station. You remain where you are, watching the assholes, while you ping the station’s UMC security force. As you thought, they never received your earlier request.
Confident that reinforcements will be there soon, you log into the embassy’s security system. The ambassador had promised you full access to whatever resources and records you needed; time to see just how far your clearance goes.
It goes plenty far. With a few clicks, you’re able to pull up the embassy’s video footage. As you suspected, there are cameras everywhere in the chambers, even in the ambassador’s office. Not only that, you’re able to dig into the embassy’s computer logs. Digital forensics are usually underestimated by people who don’t actually know how they work. Not by you; anything that’s done on a computer leaves a record, even if it’s a record of an earlier record being erased. It’s nearly impossible to hide your actions.
Sure enough, you find the data records and the video recording you need.
Got you!
Not long after, a squad of MPs trot up. You greet their commanding officer, a Captain Xio, and explain the situation to her. She orders several of her MPs to take custody of the prisoners, and then the rest of you set out at a quick march for the embassy.
“You sure you can keep up on that leg of yours?” Xio asks.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll make it.”
Despite the pain, you find yourself grinning. You’re looking forward to catching this bastard.