ic Aiming at Stars

[Brown Dynamite]

En Route to Star Island
Lonely Point, Freedom City, New Jersey
Friday March 4th, 2015

 

The Star Island Space Control Center was known for its cooperation with the Freedom League and the Lonely Island Naval Base.  What was less spoken of  was the close relationship between AEGIS and the facility.  The frequent number of alien attacks prompted Director Powers into commissioning a black project with the assistance of the SCC some weeks ago. Since then three AEGIS/SCC scientist have gone missing during the course of the project.

 

Stewart Bonham has personally seen fit to explore these strange disappearances.  Knowing full well the very public figure couldn't comb through the facility without alerting a possible perpetrator that AEGIS was on to any wrongdoing, he saw fit to ask Argonaut to accompany him posing as "personal security" for the Chief AEGIS Administrator of Freedom City.  Titan was brought using the cover of being the US military liason to AEGIS just keeping an eye on Bonham as he took a civil tour of the facility.

 

Stewart Bonham was dressed in his AEGIS blues.  A half glass of wine cupped closely.  The three were traveling on the director's personal yacht.  An AEGIS agent at the helm of the wheel.  Leaving the three undisturbed in the dining area below to talk business before docking on Star Island.

 

"Your predecessor.  Major Chulpak wouldn't have liked the subterfuge.  She'd prefer for me to make this an officially sanctioned investigation.  Pour on the heat.  Director Powers hardly agreed with her on anything, but they respected one another.  As the current US military liason to AEGIS here, how would you handle this situation?"

[Avorez]

“It is probably best, in this instance, to utilize a certain degree of subtlety, particularly in this instance.”

 

Henry looked out a window, taking in the sight of Freedom City at sea. This wasn't always part of the routine, but when it was, he often enjoyed the few times where he was actually performing his job responsibilities, even if it was as a cover. Of course, he hated wearing the service uniform. He found the damned thing infuriating more often than not, if only because of the tie. Henry hated ties. If anything, he was just hoping for a fight, just for the chance to tear the infernal contraption off, and take out his aggression on someone stupid enough to try his patience today.

 

“Regardless of what Major Chulpak thought, making this seem like a fully-realized investigation would cause them to close ranks. As much as I would love to hold someone's feet to the fire today...” he fiddled with his tie a tad, “I don't think it's a good idea to put them more on edge than they already are. Playing ignorant to the situation at hand, however...” he smiled a little at the thought, “Now that would most certainly provide them much more room for error.”

 

Henry turned his head to Yves, “Your thoughts?”

[Brown Dynamite]

"I would prefer the feet to the fire approach."  Yves replied rather calmly.  "But, then we would have to claw tooth and nail for jurisdiction.  Who knows how long it would take before someone could put boots on the ground in that case."

 

No one liked surrendering authority.  Even NASA had their own Office of Inspector General for a reason.  Star Island's security personnel were likely just as territorial.  A public investigation would lead to some tight lips and protecting of their own. 

 

"You are most likely correct in that a public spectacle would cause us more problems than it would solve."

[Avorez]

“It has been my general experience that people hate having someone else look over their shoulder. If we make it seem like something more routine, like a progress check up as opposed to a full-fledged investigation, they'll be more likely to let us in.”

 

Henry crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back in his chair, looking more like the statue of the Thinker as opposed to some metal-made man built for war. It didn't take much contemplation for him to wonder just what really was happening on Star Island, but he let his mind wander away from the subject for a moment before snapping back to reality.

 

“Regardless, Chief Administrator, I think it would be best for us to approach this particular situation in a more surreptitious manner. If we make contact with an enemy, however...” Henry thumped his fist on the desk, “Then we become a sledgehammer.” Henry took a drink of his water, looking out to sea, “We should be docking soon, shouldn't we?”

[Brown Dynamite]

Their arrival to Star Island had not gone unnoticed.  As soon as the ship had docked a handful of security personnel, accompanied my a lanky scientist whose disheveled appearance told a story of unhealthy sleeping habits, stood ready to greet them.  "That's Dr. Benjamin Kawash.  A former NASA engineer and astrophysicist.  He co-opts the the current planned mission to Mars.  A joint venture between the SCC and NASA.  A dream project of his, bit of a surprise he's pried himself away to greet us."  Bonham whispered before standing up to greet the welcoming committee.

 

"The security is for show."  Yves surmised.  Not quite sure as to why a scientist would feel the need to put on airs.  But, assuming it was some sort of political play that she didn't really care about.  Another reason as to why she would have picked a more straightforward approach than their route of sneaking.