Epilogue to the First Case
Carter receives a commendation and a medal, but he has no HR team left.
(One is in a coma; four died immediately; the other one died on the
scene.)
Margolis receives a small commendation, and moves to Virginia where she
works as a teacher.
Ashford receives a small commendation, and a promotion to Special Agent.
He moves to Washington State.
The Intervening Months
Ashford invites Carter to join his section in Washington State, and since
he is currently lone hostage rescue guy, Carter accepts. He takes a series
of small cases, mostly drug smuggling.
Margolis is invited to take up a minor teaching role at the FBI academy in
Quantico, Virginia.
Nov 12, 1998
Carter is staking out a suspect (Mark Perdu) at a truckstop on Interstate
#, around 7pm. A truck pulls up (reg. BLA 7128); a fat guy gets out (later
identified as Eric MacAlleth). He makes a phone call then goes inside to
dine. He sits with the suspect. During the meal (?) he throws up, and
rushes outside to puke more. What comes out is thick and gross. Carter
thinks it may even be moving.
MacAlleth retrieves a (shot gun / rifle) from his cab, and goes back
inside. (He fires into the ceiling?) Carter forgets to call for backup and
heads in after him, while Ashford looks for a back entrance. "Freeze,
police. Drop the gun," Carter is about to shout but he remembers just in
time that he's actually FBI. This sets the tone. The two face off; Perdu
pulls arms, previously unseen, against Carter as well. Ashford faces him
from the Kitchen. Panicked diners try to hide around the corner.
Then MacAlleth up chucks again, this time it's definitely moving - fat
worms wriggle in the black goop he brings up. Carter is grossed out - lets
off a double tap point blank and drops MacAlleth. At the sound of gunfire
the barman leaps from behind the bar and unloads his shotgun into the
fallen MacAlleth. The body explodes dramatically, spraying Carter with
warm goop and worms. Ashford takes out Perdu (what was the reason?) The
bartender takes a psychotic break and doesn't have to worry about it
anymore, though Ashford tries to calm him while Carter checks if Perdu is
dead, before washing himself off in the kitchen.
No one is allowed to leave. Police and forensics arrive, but the forensics
expert is freaked out: MacAlleth's insides are dry and shrivelled. He was
hollow. Carter is squicked some more [-5 san].
Ashford examines the truck, finding arms, porn, heroin. The manifest
indicates MacAlleth was en route to Canada, from Vancouver in Washington
State, to pick up timber. Driver's licence identifies MacAlleth.
While Carter minds the scene, Ashford returns to HQ. He calls Margolis for
assistance, but the faxed images are too poor quality. She is attached to
the investigation and is flying over in the morning.
Nobody knows what the worms and goop might be. Because of a perceived risk
of infection, Luke Day from USAMRIID is called to the investigation. He is
also arriving in the morning.
The final member of the team is Robert Traxler.
Back at the scene, the worms are shovelled into bags in bags in bins, and
sent to HQ for examination in the morning. Bodies taken for autopsy.
Statements are take from witnesses. Seems that MacAlleth thought he had
been poisoned, he blamed the cook and Mark Perdu.
Nov 13, 1998
Ashford and Carter take a lazy morning at the airport, as the team
arrives. 9am: Traxler. 10:15: Margolis. 11am: Captain Day.
Margolis and Day take to the labs, to find that the worms and goop have
become dark grey powder. It has a slight positive charge, is organic, is
hardly soluble in water, and can be used on rats in endlessly inventive
ways. It appears to be inert, however. It becomes a viscous oil at ~250 -
300 deg C, can be cooled to ~60 deg C before reverting to powder.
Traxler searches the restaurant, and finds a heroin bag worth about $3000.
He proceeds to search the truck, and probably some other things as well.
Methodical.
Big Joe Hannah seems to be the only lead, so he gets a visit from (Traxler
and Ashford?). He knows 'Big Mac' from way back. That Mac makes a payment
every fortnight is a little unusual, but no problems with him. No one else
pays off a rig quite so quickly. Last saw him 6 days ago (on Nov 7), and
he seemed healthy then. Asked "Did you know about any of his friends?" he
responds "Used to go hunting with... Pet-- Pedder-- Patteras. Yuh,
Patteras."
We want to search Perdu's apartment, apply for a warrant on grounds of
suspected drug trafficking.
Talking over lunch, Day recognises that name - one of the contributors to
"Sons of Freedom" is Simon Patteras. We search phone books, but turn up
nothing until Traxler thinks to search local firearm registry. He runs a
disposals store named "Simon's Wilderness Survival Store". We also check
the files on the Sons of Freedom (see below). Finally, we regard Seattle
as the most likely market for the heroin found in the truck.
The diner is given the frying pan treatment, with prussic acid to
sterilise it, after numerous people has wandered through it, witnesses
released, etc.
Nov 14, 1998
The dark powder has gone. The containers remain.
Summary of Tests, Knowledge, Stuff, and so on...
The Rats:
#1: Won't eat the powder in pure form. Margolis adopts this rat as a
pet.
#2: Eats powder mixed with food.
#3: Day pours hot oily form on the rat. It thrashes and dies.
#4: Day injects rat with 60 deg C oil. It does not look well. An hour
after, tries to gnaw off its leg.
#5: Day injects rat with powder in solution. It looks chirpy.
#6: Rat exposed to vapour of powder, assuming it *has* a
vapour. Suffers
oxygen starvation.
#7: Injected with heroin. Has a long, ratty high. Stops eating.
#8: Injected with heroin mixed with black powder. Also has a high and
stops eating.
Eric MacAlleth:
- was torn apart by shotgun blasts after two shots to the chest.
- all organs shrivelled. Brain, musculature, etc. desiccated.
- some black powder found within.
- no way he was alive last night.
- was eating steak and potatoes, but threw it all up.
- a waitress thought MacAlleth was maybe kinda familiar. Had probably been
there before, but doesn't appear in the previous week's security
tapes.
- MacAlleth seems to be have been following his usual truck route.
- does not have a pager or cell phone.
The Heroin:
- not very good quality - oh, sorry. Wrong batch.
- almost pure heroin.
- probably matches a large quantity seized by government of Afghanistan
from Khomi-dar cartel, some time within the last two years.
Mark Perdu:
- was in good health.
- heroin and cocaine found in blood.
- shot twice in chest.
- not known to anyone at the scene.
- Perdu had $3000 in his car, and traces of heroin and cocaine.
- small time actor.
- apartment in niceish part of Seattle.
= girlfriend moved out several months ago.
= drug injecting equipment found.
= Traxler found ~$200 in a safe.
= no diary.
- his cell phone was called from a payphone at a truckstop on 12 Nov, the
day before the meeting. Also a similar call about one month ago.
Back at the scene, and other stuff:
- security camera at the truck stop confirms our account of the
events.
- the bartender is booked in to a mental institution.
The Truck:
- the chemical toilet is unused for more than 2 months.
- porno mags have some pages stuck together.
- 2kg of heroin is bagged in small quantities (as the bag found in the
restaurant). Estimated value >$7000, but that's not enough to supply
Seattle.
- one set of recurring prints, belonging to MacAlleth.
- traces of heroin and cocaine in the carpet of the cab.
- 'wadges' of cash in the glovebox, ~$7000, bearing only MacAlleth's
prints.
- receipts from along his usual route. A few stand out, as there are no
log entries for these places: 1-2 from Oak Harbour, 5 from Ellensburg two
months ago, 1 from Garrison.
- a newsletter from "Sons of Freedom", an anti-government group. Published
in Seattle.
- an AK47 and ?, both unlicensed.
Sons of Freedom:
- under observation by the government.
- based in Washington State, though members are scattered.
- contact given in the newsletter is the editor, "The Millennium Man"
- printed by Armitage Printing
- Patteris has one other article among the five issues available on
file.
- four issues a year.
- 3 members in jail: armed robbery, assault, rape of a minor.
- 4 members on probation in Washington: possession of amphetamines,
possession of illegal firearms, hit and run in a pickup, rape.
Cast
Todd Carter (Andrew): Hostage Rescue Team without the team, FBI.
Joel Ashford (Erin): psych profiler, FBI.
Judy Margolis (Avi): medical specialist, FBI.
Luke Day (Frenchie): infectious diseases, USAMRAAD.
Robert Traxler (Dougal): Agent, FBI.
Extras
Mark Perdu:
- 25, sandy hair, wearing a suit, cites his job as "travelling
salesman".
-
Eric 'Big Mac' MacAlleth (fat guy):
- Has a bunch of small offences and traffic offences.
- No permanent address.
- Bought his truck from Big Joe Hannah's Truck Emporium, Seattle. Had it
mostly paid off in just three years. The repayments listed on his income
tax statements were not enough to explain this.
Simon Patteris:
- runs "Simon's Wilderness Survival Store".
- contributor to "Sons of Freedom" newsletter.
- no record.
Recommended Reading
"The Hot Zone": about disease outbreaks, especially recommended to Avi and
Frenchie.
