Missions of the Retrieval Team - The Girl with the Silvery Smile

[davedove]

Scene 5


Grand Dining Room, Great Hall of X Marks the Scot


I was about to go over to speak with the California members when I heard Dee call for the attention of everyone in the room. I noticed that he had left his post at the top of the stairs and moved to another hallway that opened into the Dining Room.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he addressed the gathering. “I present our guests of honor this evening, Riverkilt, Graham, Hamish, and Andrew Breecher”

All those gathered turned to face the hallway and applauded the entrance of the members. Three orderlies came in pushing wheelchairs, in which the first three members were seated. Andrew walked in following them. Although all looked as if they were still recovering, especially those in the chairs, each was dressed in their formal attire.

The guests of honor accepted the applause, but they seemed embarrassed about it. I saw that Mike had moved over to greet the men. After greeting them, he looked over at me, and gestured for me to join him.

When I joined him, he introduced me to the men seated.

“Gentlemen,” he said, “This is Mr. Dove, the leader of the team that rescued you.”

“Mr. Dove,” said Hamish as we shook hands. “I am so glad to finally meet you and give you my thanks.”

“Hamish,” I answered. “I am so glad that I was able to assist in any way. But I was just a small part of the rescue. Several others participated in the effort.”

“And I plan to thank each one of them,” he replied.

The other two men expressed similar sentiments when I spoke to them. Mike then directed the men to their seats and moved to stand behind the podium at the front of the room.

“Would everyone please take your seats?” he called out.

When everyone was seated, he continued. “I would first like to thank everyone who could make it today. The number of people attending shows us just how respected these men are.”

The room again erupted in applause. When it died down, Mike continued. “Tonight, we are gathered together to celebrate the recovery of Riverkilt, Graham, and Hamish from the harsh treatment at the hands of the forces of Globo-Fashion. Andrew Breecher, although he recovered much earlier than these gentlemen, is also being honored, because he also suffered the same treatment.”

“Some time ago,” he went on, “We honored the individuals who participated in the operation to rescue these individuals. Tonight, we are presenting to these men the Golden Thistle, for the suffering they experienced.”

Mike left the podium and went to each of the men. He presented a medal to each of the men and shook their hands. When he was done he stepped back and joined the applause in honor of the men.”

He returned to the podium. “But this occasion is not all happiness and celebration. There are some who have not yet recovered from what they suffered. Let us all take a moment to think of them and pray for their fast recovery.” The room was completely silent as we all thought of those who had still not recovered.

“And now,” he continued, “Let’s enjoy our evening.”

After that, Mike returned to his seat. Servants came from the kitchen and began serving the assembled guests.

[davedove]

Scene 6


Grand Dining Room, Great Hall of X Marks the Scot


After the meal, we all left the tables and gathered to mingle. I was talking with Riverkilt, introducing him to the members of my team when Todd came up to me.

“Have you noticed what the California members were wearing?” he asked me.

“Yes, I did,” I answered. “What do you make of it?”

“Oh, I think it’s a marvelous idea,” he answered. “I had my reservations at first, but after talking to one of them, the idea began to grow on me. I think everyone ought to be wearing them tonight.”

“But it’s not at all traditional.”

“No, but don’t you think it looks great.”

“I guess,” I answered. Todd then moved away to talk with some others.

Todd’s behavior seemed strange to me. He normally was fairly traditional in his dress. Sure, he would never criticize anyone else, but such things weren’t for him. To want to adopt such non-traditional dress as his own was completely out of character.

I motioned for Ms. Starling to join me. “Have you noticed anything about the California members?” I asked her.

“I assume you mean besides their headgear. The couple I have talked to seem very enthusiastic about the hats. I’ve also noticed a few of the other guests seem to feel the same way.”

“Yeah, I was just talking with Todd and he seems ready to get one for himself.”

“Todd, but he’s a pretty strict traditionalist, at least for his own attire.”

“That was my thought as well. I think something is going on here. Pass the word among the team and have them keep alert. I’m going to talk with Mike and see what he thinks.”

I made my way over to Mike, who was standing with Panache. Both were talking to Hamish.

“But Hamish,” said Panache, “You simply must get one of those caps for your formal attire. And the pink feather is an absolute must have.”

“Panache,” Hamish replied, “Those hats are simply not something I would wear. They look like something a re-enactor would wear, not something that would be worn with formal highland attire.”

“I agree with Panache,” said Mike. “You have got to get one. In fact, I think all of the members should be wearing them.”

Something was definitely wrong here. I quickly moved in.

“Gentlemen,” I said. “I hope you don’t mind if I steal Hamish for a bit. I would like to introduce him to the rest of my team.

“Of course,” Mike answered. “I need to mingle a bit more anyway.”

“And I do too,” said Panache. “Hamish, we will speak some more later.”

I quickly began to wheel Hamish’s chair away. “Hamish,” I said, “I’m sorry for being so abrupt, but I think something strange is going on around here.”

“I assume you’re speaking about the caps that the Californians are wearing?”

“That’s it exactly. People who would never consider wearing such a thing with their kilts are suddenly extremely enthusiastic about getting one of their own.”

“What do you think is causing it?”

“I don’t know, but I wanted to get you away before whatever it is affected you.”

I put a quiet call out to my team over the ear receivers we always wear and asked them to meet me in the library. We had to figure out what was going on.

[davedove]

Scene 7

Library, Great Hall of X Marks the Scot

My team had assembled in the Library along with Hamish. From the comments of my team, whatever was affecting the members was spreading. We had to figure out what was happening and how to stop it.

“From what I can see, it looks like this started with the California members and spread from there. Does anyone have any idea how this is happening?” I started.

Ms. Starling was the first to answer. “Only that it seems to spread from person to person. Also, it doesn’t seem to be absolute. For instance, I spoke to Rigged and I don’t seem to be affected. Plus, you talked to several of the Moderators, who all seem to be affected, but neither you nor Hamish have been.”

“Well, that’s a start. Any ideas on how to proceed?”

“We need to contain the spread and isolate those who have been affected, much like one would a disease,” said Ms. Raven.

“We can’t contain the entire Great Hall, or even the Dining Room. They’re just too big, with too many exits,” I said.

“We can keep anyone from leaving the courtyard though,” replied Ms. Raven. “All we would have to do is disable the gate and no one could leave.”

“That will keep anyone from leaving the area,” I said, “But what about containing the spread within the Hall?”

Ms. Starling answered, “We don’t have to contain those who have been affected. We contain those who have not.”

“And how do we do that?” I asked.

“We secure the library. It only has the two main entrances and we can easily control them. Some of us would work through the crowd in the Dining Room, determine who has not been affected, and bring them here.”

“Good idea. Okay, here’s the plan. Ms. Raven, go out and disable the gate. Do you need any assistance?”

“No, it’s just a simple electronic control panel.” Trust her to already know that.

“Okay, Ms. Wren, you head down to the infirmary. We don’t want anyone there to be affected. Get with whoever is on duty and explain the situation to them. No one is to go down there. Explain that even the Moderators have been affected.”

“Will do.”

“Ms. Hawk and Ms. Stork, you stay here and secure the library and look after Hamish. Don’t let anyone in unless one of us accompanies him or her. As others arrive, explain the situation to them and let them help with security”

“You got it,” they answered in unison.

“Good, now the rest of us will go back into the Dining Room. We will avoid the California members and those we know are affected already, mainly the Moderators. We will approach others, find out if they are affected, and those who are not we will bring back here. Let’s move out.”

[Coemgen]

“From what I can see, it looks like this started with the California members and spread from there…"

This is blatant anti-Californiaism!

You know, not everything weird starts here; there are at least three cults, two diseases, and one alternative lifestyle that aren't from California!

Now if you'll excuse me, I must go impress upon these other guests the splendour of my wonderful new hat with this opulently large ostrich feather.

[davedove]

You know, not everything weird starts here;

True, but so much does!!

[Clockwork John]

Don't blame us, we just live here!

[Kilted_John]

One word.... Hollywierd... ;-P

-J

[davedove]

Sorry for the delay, but I've been away from my computer over the holidays.

Now, the newest installment of the story.

[davedove]

Scene 8


Grand Dining Room, Great Hall of X Marks the Scot


Ms. Falcon and I entered the Grand Dining Room through the main entrance while my other associates made their way through another doorway. As we made idle conversation with the assembled guests, we purposely avoided contact with the members from California.

Shortly, we came across Dee speaking with Riverkilt.

“I really do like those hats,” said Riverkilt. “Although the feathers could probably be another color.”

“Do you really think so? I just don’t see it,” was Dee’s reply.

It seemed that Riverkilt had already been affected, but Dee had not. It would be an extraordinary stroke of luck if the Herald could assist us.

I casually pulled Dee aside to speak with him. “Dee, we need to speak with you. It seems we have a situation here in the hall.”

“Certainly, is it about the sudden fascination with Elizabethan hats that everyone seems to have.”

“That’s it exactly. It seems to have originated with the California members and spread to whoever has talked with them. But as a Herald, you should have spoken with them and you don’t seem to be affected. Can you explain that?”

“Easily, I haven’t spoken with any of them yet. I had to go prepare for the entry of the guests of honor before the California members came into the Dining Room. McMurdo would have spoken with them though.”

“Of course, that would explain it. It also means that McMurdo has been affected, along with all the Moderators. My team has established an impromptu command center in the Library. I need you to go with Ms. Falcon. She will answer your questions.”

“Certainly, I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed anything strange.”

As Ms. Falcon escorted Dee to the Library, I continued to work through the room. One of the members spotted me and quickly approached.

“You’re Mr. Dove, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Yes, I am. And you are?”

“Well, in XMarks I’m known as CactusJack. It’s great to meet you. I’ve heard all about how you and your team rescued those who had been kidnapped. Well done!”

“Thank you,” I answered, shaking the hand he had offered. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“What do you think of the hats that the members from California are wearing?”

“They’re a bit odd if you ask me. Mind you, if that’s what they want to wear, good for them.”

“Have you spoken to any of them?”

“Just one, Coemgen.”

Just then, I heard my name being called from across the crowd. When I turned to see who it was, I noticed the Moderator David approaching.

“Mr. Dove, I need to talk with you,” he said upon reaching me.

“Sure, what do you need?”

“I want to ask you about all this nonsense with those stupid caps those California folks are wearing.”

“You don’t like them?” I asked, genuinely surprised. David had obviously spoken to all of the California members.

“Don’t like them? They’re ridiculous. It’s like something out of a Renaissance Ball, not what one should wear at a formal kilted affair. But even the other Moderators seem to have fallen in love with the look.”

Suddenly, David let loose a rapid sequence of sneezes.

“Bless you,” both CactusJack and I said in unison.

“Thank you. I can’t seem to shake this blasted cold. I can’t smell a thing and nothing tastes right. Now what about these caps?”

“I think you need to follow me,” I told him. “Would both of you gentlemen follow me to the Library?”

[davedove]

Scene 9


Library, Great Hall of X Marks the Scot


Over the next hour, my team had managed to isolate only a few more people who had not been affected. We were all assembled in the Library and were discussing our next steps.

Dee had suggested viewing the records from the surveillance cameras to see if we could isolate just which of the California members was the source of the situation. Ms. Swan was working with him to accomplish this.

“We could just gas the whole area and knock them out,” David suggested. “After that, it would be easy to lock them into their individual rooms until we figure this out.”

“Let’s keep that as Option B,” I replied. “I’m not real happy about the thought of gassing the other Moderators.”

“Whatever, I just thought we could make it easier than this slow investigation.”

“Thanks, David, I’m just hoping we can accomplish this a little more subtly. Ms. Swan, have you made any progress?”

“I have taken the tapes and cloned them onto a virtual diagram. Each person has his or her own symbol in the diagram. We are now tracing each symbol to track just who had contact with whom.”

“And what have you found out?”

“Well, we know that this all started with the California members. Also, each of the Moderators had contact with all of those members, so we didn’t start with them. Now, CactusJack has not been affected so we decided to start with him. In his movements about the room, he only had one contact with the “Hat Club”, as I am calling them. Notice right here he interacts with Coemgen. Since he was not affected, we can assume that Coemgen, although affected himself, is not spreading whatever this is. Likewise, we can eliminate Rigged, since Ms. Starling was not affected. Also, those members who only had contact with either of these two have not been affected.”

“So we can eliminate Coemgen and Rigged as the source?”

“Exactly, and that leaves only three others of the Hat Club to check. We can divide the other people in the Dining Room into three groups, those who have had contact with each of these three members. Of course, there will be some overlap, so we can start with the people who have only had contact with one of these members. Those who have had contact with only Crusty are the fewest, so we started there. None of them seem to be affected, and they are already here with us in the Library.”

“Eliminating Crusty.”

“Right, so I looked at Ozman next. Again, those who only had contact with him were not affected and they are here with us. We also were able to isolate the people who had contact with more than one of these members, but not with the fifth. With one exception, they are also here.”

“Who’s the exception?”

“Riverkilt. He had contact with Rigged, Crusty, and Ozman, but not the fifth member.”

“But he seems to be affected,” I protested.

“Is he really?” asked Ms. Starling. “Isn’t he known for making unusual choices of attire to wear with his kilt.”

“Of course,” I answered. “How could I forget that? Also, when I spoke with him, he didn’t completely accept the hat as the others had. He commented that the color of the feather was wrong. I think I made a big mistake. Ms. Falcon, perhaps you should go and retrieve him for us. Be subtle, but get him out of there.”

I turned back to Ms. Swan. “So, you have eliminated four of the California members. That leaves only James MacMillan.”

“Right, and I’ve traced his movements to be sure. Every person who had contact with him has been affected. Well, everyone but David here.”

“Why wasn’t he affected?”

“Because I’m obviously not as weak minded as the others,” he answered.

“Maybe,” said Ms. Starling, “But I don’t think that’s the main reason. There is something else different about him right now, something that may have prevented his being affected. He has a cold.”

“So you think this is airborne,” I said.

“Yes, he said that he couldn’t smell anything right now. That means his olfactory receptors are being blocked. Perhaps that kept him from being affected.”

“So, if we block the olfactory receptors, we prevent being affected.”

“That’s a reasonable assumption.”

“Okay, so we plug our noses somehow and go get him away from everyone else.”

“Hold on,” said Ms. Starling. “There is someone else beside James. His wife has been at his side the whole time. I don’t want to accuse either of them, be she could also be responsible.”

“That’s a good point. Okay, Ms. Thrush, why don’t you accompany me? We’ll find a way to block our smell and go get the two of them out of the room. Dee, where can we put them?”

“We could isolate them down in the medical ward. It’s probably the best place.”

“Good, you go down and get a room ready. Ms. Thrush, let’s go.”