"Adventure Hooks"

[Cptn Elias Moore 0]

"This was quite a lovely office you had here, Captain." Rufus said as he glanced around the ready room. He was sitting on the black-charred couch in front of Elias' desk, politely hiding his discomfort.

 

"Indeed." Elias answered shortly. He was looking at a pad that contained the personnel data for Corporal Watterston, whose life was lost when the pirate ship was destroyed. They had come so close to escaping the crisis without any loss of life. But it was Elias' poor targetting at the tactical station that had resulted in the explosion and the MACO's death. Regardless of his own hand in the matter, he would have to get around to composing a letter to the family--especially difficult to do for someone with whom he never had a chance to get acquainted.

 

"I am deeply sorry about your loss." The old man said, as if he could read Elias' mind.

 

"Appreciated." Elias united the pad with the huge stack on the left side of his desk. His computer was destroyed by the fire and would need to be repaired, so all reports were being delivered via hard copy. He looked across the desk at his guest, and took a moment to appraise him, an opportunity that he missed amidst the chaos of the pirate attack. The man had a clearly gentle demeanour, the sort you would expect from a beloved grandparent. He seemed rather well-to-do, with such an extravagant looking robe and a crystal-capped walking stick, but the appearance fit him well enough so as to not diminish his paternal aura. "I'm glad you could give me some of your time, Mr... um?"

 

"'Rufus' will be just fine." The old man smiled warmly. "My family name is quite long and complex. In fact, so is my given name. 'Rufus' is a shortened version, and I can tell you, though the chances of this bearing any relevance to our current aspirations are not assured, that my parents are not pleased with such curt nomenclature."

 

"Ah... I can certainly understand that." Elias chuckled, appreciating the opportunity to break ice before getting to business. "I've had problems of my own with the parental units. I'm sure you have to use your full name in their presence?"

 

"Oh, I avoid being in their presence as fiercely as I can." The old man's answer rather surprised Elias and he raised an eyebrow. "You must understand, Captain, that I am quite the aberration among my family. They are notorious throughout the history of Midgar, that is my celestial sphere, for their cruelty, malice, and bad taste in clothing. Very rarely does one of their number pop out with at least one or two good qualities. My Great Uncle Ben, for instance... persecuted relentlessly by the family because of his compassion for those less fortunate and his shortening of his name. I was the only one who would even speak to him without denouncing and condemning him."

 

Elias blinked. "That sounds terrible."

 

"Oh, I got away from them soon enough and with little difficulty. For all the shortcomings of my family, we are at least blessed, or cursed some may say, with a great deal of the talent."

 

"The talent." Elias glanced at the mountain of pads. "My science chief relayed an interesting report to me about the energy field you created around our shuttle pod. He reported that you never even touched the controls. Was that your... talent?"

 

The old man's face twisted in concentration a moment. He reached into the front of his robe and pulled out a small silver strip. He held it out to Elias. "Gum?" Elias was dazed by this for a moment, and the old man took his silence to be refusal. He pulled a pink strip out of the silver strip and put it in his mouth before returning the silver strip to his robe. "I retrieved your language from the mind of your science officer, Captain. But, alas, there was no word in his mind more accurate than 'talent' to describe what it is that my people do. The best I can do is offer my own personal demonstrations... and, at some point perhaps, invite you and your crew to my celestial sphere to observe it in its greatest quantity."

 

"I see." Elias lied. The old man simply chewed his gum with a smile. "Well, Mr... er, Rufus... I was told that you were looking for someone on the surface of Kappa Persei, but I wasn't given any details. My crew is looking for someone as well, and I was wondering if there might be a connection between our pursuit and yours."

 

"Yes, Captain. The shack on the surface belongs to a local criminal organization... you just had an unfortunate run-in with some of their number. The person I seek is the leader of this organization, though their interests may not coincide with his, a fact of which they may not even be aware."

 

"Who is this person?" Elias asked.

 

"His name is Quantus. And he is an old friend." Elias waited for the old man to continue, but he simply resumed his chewing; now, though, he was not smiling.

 

"Anything you could tell us about this organization could aide our search." Elias wasn't willing to press too hard. Despite this man's gentle bearing, Grey's report spoke of an odd verbal outburst on the shuttlepod just prior to his creation of the energy field. There was the impression, looking into Rufus' eyes, that there was a wellspring of energy waiting inside of him ready for a violent release.

 

"It is a difficult story for me to tell, Captain."

 

"I can understand that." Elias answered. "And you're certainly not being held prisoner on this ship, nor would we require any more from you beyond what you've already done for us. But I would impress upon you the importance of our search and give only what assurance I can that your privacy will be respected."

 

"I can tell that you are a good sort, Captain. With great concerns of your own resting heavily on your mind." Rufus sighed deeply. He pulled the 'gum' out of his mouth, now a pink glob, and pushed it against the crystal at the end of his walking stick. It stuck there, and Elias wondered if this was an adhesive property of the substance, or a demonstration of Rufus' "talent."

 

"On Midgar, Captain..." Rufus continued. "There is a King. A good, kind soul, though perhaps a bit eccentric... debauched, some say. The King is served and advised by what we call the Arcane Council. It is composed of those among the people of Midgar that possess the greatest talent. I am one of the four serving now on the Council. My three associates are on Midgar now, overseeing the search for Quantus from our tower. This search is one we have been conducting for... almost three Solar years."

 

"That's quite a long time." Elias said. "What did this Quantus do?"

 

"He betrayed the King, Captain." Rufus answered. "You see... the Arcane Council is traditionally formed from the *five* most talented of our people. We have been one short for almost three of your years, and tradition holds that our number can not be restored until we... deal with our missing counterpart."

 

"Quantus?" Elias asked. "He was on your Council?"

 

Rufus nodded in answer. "His betrayal was abandonment of his responsibilities to the King... and we fear he may do far worse if he is not found."

 

Elias sat back in his chair and frowned. As little as he knew about Rufus' "talent," he found himself concerned that one just as "talented" stood against them. This was an angle to Achilles' retrieval that he couldn't have imagined.

 

"Over the years..." Rufus continued, a distant expression on his face. "He'd been growing more and more disatisfied. I believe he felt that our talents were wasted in service to the King. He believed that our talents would be better utilized toward rulership rather than service. Though we do not officially recognize a leader among us, the rest of the Council had always trusted my judgement, but Quantus began openly questioning my decisions on a continuing basis. Questioning became arguing... arguing became deriding... and always there was the suggestion that his ideas should guide the actions of the Council. One day... he simply took four of his apprentices and left Midgar. Four, you see, Captain? He could have taken more, and they all would have followed, but I believe he cherishes the idea of leading his own Council of five... still bitter as he is that his role in our Council never met his ambitions. It was my suggestion to appoint him... a suggestion that was not shared by my associates. I'd hoped that he would turn out better, would show the others his true value. I know, now, that I was mistaken... and the mistake may be costly."

 

"You mentioned that his interests may not coincide with the criminals we faced."

 

"Oh, yes." Rufus nodded. "I am convinced that he is using them. He never looked all that favorably upon outsiders. What, exactly, his interests are... dominion, I would guess. Not just dominion over some criminal rabble, however, or over anyone else in this universe... but dominion over Midgar. These criminals are, in part, a front... and, in part, a means to acquire more of the resources that he needs. What methods he plans to achieve the dominion he seeks... I do not know. He is remarkably capable of covering his tracks."

 

Elias considered mentioning the cloaking device and Nagen's interest in it, but he was still muffled by Starfleet's secrecy. "We're looking for a ship grabbed by associates of his... during the course of our search, we may have to face him. What are his capabilities?"

 

"He was Midgar's greatest transmuter."

 

Elias' brow furrowed. "Transmuter. What is that?"

 

"He is able to... change, Captain." Rufus answered. "In remarkable fashion, I might say. He can change his appearance... he can change his shape... he can even change his form. And in so doing, he can become very deadly."

 

"That... isn't good to hear."

 

Rufus attempted a smile and did quite a decent job of it. "If you face him, Captain, I will be happy. For it will mean that you have found him when my associates and I could not. Perhaps your crew's technological mastery and more... mundane ways of thinking, concepts at which my people do not excel, will end up being the key to locating one such as Quantus. I hope that you will allow me to remain aboard this vessel of yours and we will see what your search turns up?"

 

"Of course. We'll have to get some better accommodations for you, though." Elias grabbed his communicator and opened it. "Mr. Giovanni, have one of the guest quarters prepared and send someone to my ready room."

 

"You will follow the map that Mr. Grey took from Kappa Persei, Captain?"

 

"Unless you have a better suggestion." Elias shrugged. "Seems like a good a place as any to look. My science team is analyzing the map now."

 

"I agree that it is the best course. I have nothing else to suggest." Rufus stood and pulled his gum off of his walking staff. "I do enjoy adventuring away from Midgar. I believe it will be quite a bit of fun working with you and your crew... when our lives aren't in grave peril of course."

 

Elias smiled meekly. "Indeed. I warn you, though, that our search could take a while... and I want to know more about your world and your people. I hope you'll be willing to suffer more questions."

 

"Quite the contrary." Rufus answered. "I admire the inquisitiveness of your people, Captain. We knew that contact with you was inevitable when we first began observing you. Most of us were looking forward to it. If we manage to wrap this nasty business of ours up, I would be honored if you would visit Midgar."

 

"Sounds like a shore leave opportunity." Elias smiled. "My crew just might mutiny if I refuse."