Jam Session #10: Black Dog Liturgy
Tango with the Past Arc Theme Song: “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” by Muddy Waters // Session Into Song: “Lonesome Dog Blues” by Lightnin’ Hopkins
If you would like a recap of the previous session, check out Jam Session #9: Downtown Freestyle!
The session opens with Sirius saying farewell to Mei as she boards a ship back to New Galveston, back on Europa. With their short vacation over, the Crew decide to move forward with Aurelio Lupo in an attempt to square whatever debt Sirius still owes the man - and by extension the Cremisi Family. However, the Crew also has Kuru Toga’s old friend and brother-in-arms to deal with: one Roscoe “Blanche” O’Reilly, who is currently using the alias “Randal Ferguson” while he lays low on The Mississippi Queen II.
Ever the democratic captain, Sirius calls for a team meeting where, among other things, he learns that Courtney would rather be fishing than deal with Aurelio and that the Crew really needs to get that guy off their back so they go back to doing the crimes they are interested in - namely smuggling, thieving, and (with Glenallen Mixon III out of the picture) maybe a little bounty hunting.
“Well Aurelio invited us to dinner at the Cul de Sac tonight,” Sirius tells the group. “So why don’t we suit up and see what this job is about.”
Kuru leaps at the opportunity to wear his fancy new suit, while Courtney and Scruffy are both a little more hesitant. Something about Lupo rubs the former the wrong way, while the custodian doesn’t want to wear anything but his guild-mandated coveralls. Anything else just doesn’t sit right with him.
The Crew heads to the Cul de Sac where they’re escorted to a private table on the balcony level overlooking a stage where pieces from the opera “Don Juan Triumphant” are being played by a string quartet and a pair a singers. Guards - no doubt Aurelio’s personal muscle - stand along the wall, keeping an eye on the stairs leading back to the main floor and the door that exits to an outdoor balcony that overlooks Nouveau Bordeaux’s skyline. Sirius is invited to take the seat to Aurelio’s right and the mobster requests that Kuru Toga sit to the left of his date, a stunning woman named Calpurnia who introduces herself as an opera star.
Before they can order appetizers or talk business, Aurelio hands Sirius a small velvet box.
“I wanted to give you something,” he tells the captain. “To honor our friendship and as my final apology for the loss of your old ship.”
Sirius opens the box and finds two coded keys.
“I took the liberty of buying two ships for you,” Aurelio says. “Completely above board. There’s a SF-77 ‘Barracuda’ to help keep you out of trouble in deep space and a SE-980 ‘Iruka’ that can help you with deliveries when you can’t take the Queen. Grab them on your way out. Paperwork’s already been sent to your assistant… what’s his name? Monty?”
“I don’t know what to say,” Sirius replies.
“Say you’ll take this next job I’ve got for you,” Aurelio answers with a wolfish grin. “But first, let’s have ourselves a nice dinner. Order anything my friends, it’s on the house!”
Aurelio and Sirius catch up over a fine Italian meal and the Crew learns a bit about the halcyon days of their captain’s youth. As it turned out, Sirius and Aurelio were little more than street urchins taking on all kinds of jobs. Sometimes they were messengers for gangs, other times they’d engage in petty theft or vandalism. After a ship jacking gone horribly wrong the local constables got wise and were chasing the pair through the backstreets of Piazzi, the largest city on Ceres. Aurelio fell behind and Sirius kept going, not wanting to get sent to jail himself.
The two didn’t see each other again for more than a decade, during which time Sirius became a smuggler and vagabond while Aurelio joined up with the Cremisis and worked his way toward the top.
“And that’s why I’m calling on you again, Wangster,” Aurelio says, dismissing Calpurnia. “I have an associate who is doing some time on Cylenne. Giovanni Kuklinski. I need him busted out of jail. We’ve tried bribes, blackmail, threats, and even good old-fashioned murder but we can’t get his sentence up early. You and I don’t officially have any sort of connection, so your crew’s the best shot I’ve got. I’ll give you 8 Cred if you get him out alive. If that’s not possible you’ll need to ice him and I’ll give you 4 Cred for your trouble.”
“Seems like killing him and taking the smaller reward would be a lot easier,” Scruffy mutters over his spaghetti.
“Alright the execution is off the table,” Aurelio says severely. “You want anything you break him out alive. Do this for me and you get the money, our debts are squared, and you’ve got a friend with the Family. How’s that sound?”
Sirius, not having much in the way of options, takes on the job. A delighted Aurelio excuses himself to allow the Crew to chat, although he insists that Kuru Toga join him on the balcony for a cigar and cocktail. A little confused, Kuru takes him up on the offer and soon the two are chatting like old co-workers while enjoying the view of NoBo at night.
“There’s a loose end I need tied up,” Aurelio explains. “And I believe you’re the man to do it. In Geo’s block there’s a man named Marco Buscetta. He knows a little… too much about how I conduct business. I have big plans in the next few years and can’t have someone like him in my rearview fucking things up. Take him out and 4 Cred is yours.”
Kuru swirls his 7&7 while considering the offer.
“I’ll sweeten it for you, Mr. Toga,” Aurelio continues. “I know about your old friend Maurice Barboza. I think you called him Sophia. He’s worked for us quite a bit in the past and has been very beneficial to our operation, but he’s been making too much noise lately and it’s no longer profitable for us to continue protecting him. You handle Buscetta and I’ll give you Marboza on a silver platter. Hell, I might even have some work for you.”
Never having been much of a fan of Sophia - his inclusion had always been Clark Wiethoff’s (a.k.a. "Dorothy") idea - Kuru agreed. A good chunk of change now and an opportunity for even more down the road. What could go wrong?
Dinner resumes without a hitch and the Crew heads home in their new ships - the “Barracuda” being given the name Sparrow while the “Iruka” is nicknamed the Piglet. Not wanting to repeat the chaos in New Galveston, Sirius decides to host a team meeting to generate some ideas on how to best handle the upcoming mission. Many ideas are brought up and exchanged, including getting arrested on purpose, hitting a transport vehicle while Giovanni is in it, and sneaking in through the sewers.
None of the ideas seem very… good, so the Crew decides to reach out to their go-to fixer Mifune to see if the man has any information about Cylenne Penitentiary. Mifune says he can get them some blueprints for the right price, but if they really want to get some good information they need to speak with Jacoby “the Weasel” Novak - the only person to ever escape from Cylenne. While Mifune doesn’t know the man’s exact location, he’s able to narrow down the Crew’s search to the Cape Town Arcology in Gan De City on Ganymede and says he’ll reach out to the guy to arrange a meetup.
Before he hangs up, Mifune also mentions he has a potential buyer lined up for the mysterious Provecta holodisk. A woman calling herself Miss Wonderly is offering up 12 Cred for the item, 4 of which would go to Mifune for arranging the meetup. The Crew, altogether too happy to get rid of a useless (to them) holodisk, readily agree and tell Mifune to set up a meeting in two weeks, by which point they hope to be done with Aurelio and the Cremisi
The Mississippi Queen plots a course to the Cape Town Arcology, but they receive no word from Novak as they land Piglet in the garage connected to the massive city-building. With some help from a bored directory desk worker the Crew finds one “Jack Mustela” on the 181st floor, which Scruffy identifies as a likely cover for Novak. They take an elevator most of the way to the top of the building, but it shuts down at the 175th floor, citing security concerns on the floors above. Not a group to be dissuade by “dangerous situations,” the Crew utilizes Scruffy’s skills and affiliation with the Janitorial Guild to get past some locked doors and up to Novak’s floor.
A hit squad working for the Calavera Cartel is trying to break into Novak’s penthouse, but the Crew makes quick work of them - with Courtney making sure that none of the would-be assassins live to tell the tail. They manage to get Novak’s attention and assure him they aren’t trying to kill him themselves, eventually convincing Novak to let them into the penthouse so they can talk.
True to his name, Novak is a weaselly fellow who squirms as he tells the Crew everything he knows about the super prison, including the story of his great escape from Cylenne. After serving sixteen years of his life sentence he snuck out by befriending some members of the Voyna stuck inside. After arranging a pickup from members of the Voyna still outside, Novak faked his own death, hijacked one of the patrol ships on the moon, and took off to space, shutting everything down and drifting unseen past the Grid - the array of security satellites that destroy any unauthorized ships coming in or going out of Cylenne. He had to drift in space for two weeks surviving on recycled air and water until he was finally picked up by the Voyna, at which point he paid them a ludicrous fee and fucked off to Ganymede.
“Oh, before you go,” Novak said to a departing Crew. “Did ‘Radical Gun’ tell you where to find me?”
“Never heard of him,” Courtney replied truthfully.
“Well shit,” Novak said. “That’s another security hole to plug… Anyway, good luck! Hope you don’t get killed!”
As they return to The Mississippi Queen, the Crew goes over what they know:
Cylenne Penitentiary has dozens of facilities, most of which provide cheap labor for corporations.
Authorized corporate ships will often land to deliver raw materials or pick up finished goods - most commonly parts for vehicles, computers, weapons, or heavy machinery.
The only safe way in and out is the Hades Gate - ship Skip Drives cannot enter Cylenne space and the Grid tends to destroy the unauthorized ships that try to enter at sublight speeds.
Sirius does a little research and gets a list of dozens of corporate ships going in and out of Cylenne over the next few weeks while Scruffy reaches out to an old colleague by the name of Jürgen Schmidt to try and get reassigned to Cyllene Penitentiary. Schmidt is able to get Scruffy a four year “tour,” which will take him to retirement and even qualify him for an upgraded package (Gold from Bronze). The catch is that if Scruffy tries to bail he’ll be considered AWOL and excommunicado from the Janitorial Guild.
While their companions gather information, Kuru Toga and Courtney go looking for some gear that might help them with the break-in, break-out. They spend some Cred on an unregistered high-quality carbon cutter, a scan detection monitor for the Mississippi Queen II, and a handful of personal rebreathers. Courtney also prepares his assault rifle to be smuggled into the jail - breaking it down and stashing it in the hidden compartments of its metal briefcase. Content with their loadouts, they return to the ship.
Mifune reaches out to the Crew about selling the Provecta desk to Miss Wonderly. She wants to meet in two weeks on Hyperion. They also speak with Mifune about hiring a smuggler to help them escape from Cylenne and he promises to get them in touch with “Tom Sawyer,” the supposed “best in the biz.” He also lets the Crew know that chatter on the holo indicates that folks are growing wise to Roscoe’s situation, putting that escort job on the clock.
After some discussion, the Crew decides to split up and handle both jobs at once: Sirius will escort Roscoe to Lassell City while Kuru, Courtney, and Scruffy sneak into jail. “Rollin’ and “Tumblin’” starts playing as the four friends sit around in their breakroom, the weight of the job ahead of them resting heavy on their shoulders.
You can listen to the full Orbital Blues: The Mississippi Sessions playlist on Spotify.
