VRDET Op: The Marraketh Connection
Seg #4: "Chance, Go Directly to Jail,
Do not pass 'Go', do not collect $200"
By: nexxus 3 kline
CoAuthor: Rens Houben
==================================

        "Community Chest:
	Get out of jail, Free.
	This card may be kept until needed or sold."
		     --Monopoly, (C) Parker Brothers

	"Just put yer face in that scanner in front of you, and 
don't close your eyes." the security officer instructed. Phoe 
nodded and shoved his face into the contraption, he'd been 
through this routine before apparently. Nexx stood at the 
counter, waiting impatiently. They had three people to find, and 
enough territory to cover that they could search for millennium 
and not make it 1/4 of the way through. Phoe still had to submit 
personal information for his badge, it wouldn't take more than 
another few minutes for them to be on their way but Nexx fidgeted 
just the same.
	To take her mind off of it, she wandered out the door and 
into the main lobby. Drunks, troublemakers, the insane and people 
caught in the city illegally filled the brightly lit room. Most 
had been sedated and all of them had been restrained in one form 
or another. She scanned the room slowly, trying to guess what 
each had done. Not an easy thing to do, at least not in this 
place, there were so many more illegal possibilities here than on 
earth, where technology wasn't as advanced and there weren't 
alien races from everywhere. As she watched, a squad of street 
cops entered from outside, two of them limping and a third 
carrying an inert, handcuffed body. *Guess somebody didn't want 
to come quietly* she thought.
	She had just turned around to head back into the Registry 
Dept. when all hell seemed to break loose behind her. Whirling 
around, she saw the officer who'd been carrying the arrestant 
down on the floor and the erstwhile arrestant knocking out a 
second officer and relieving her of her sidearm. It wasn't until 
he turned around, scanning the room for direct trouble that she 
recognized him, and the realization shocked her out of her wits 
for a second. "Shad!" she shouted before she could stop herself. 
"What are you doing here? I mean, how did you get here? What the 
heck did you do?" she asked, still in shock at seeing him there.
	"What is he being held for?" she turned to the guards 
that were holding him, "You can release him into my care. I'll 
sponsor him."
	"You'll have to go to the Comm of the I.E.D. to claim 
him. He's here illegally, caused a big riot at the MC and he's 
got quite a temper. Being a shape shifter and carrying an 
unregistered weapon type isn't going to help his case much 
either..."
	"Who's the Comm at I.E.D. these days?" Nexx queried. She 
was hoping it was someone she knew. Someone that would be willing 
to ignore the major offenses Shad had committed.
	"Merten." the other guard answered.
	"Alright." she replied. "Shad, keep quite, cooperate and 
I'll have you out in a little while."
	For a few tense seconds Shad said nothing, and Nexx found 
herself wondering just how much she could do about it if he chose 
to make an issue out of it. *The military probably could take him 
down.... eventually... Maybe...*
	Finally he sighed and nodded. "All right. See you later, 
then." He called as the officers, looking relieved, led him none-
too-gently towards the back of the building.
	Turning, she hurried back to the Registry to let Phoenix 
know they were going to have to claim Shad. Luckily he was 
finished, the only thing he had to do was test his new ID badge 
to make sure it worked properly. Having done so, as Nexx 
explained what was going on, they headed towards the lift.
	"This shouldn't take long, we've lucked out in that I 
know the Comm. It shouldn't take us more than another 30 minutes 
to get things straightened out." she explained.
	"That's good," Phoe replied. "What I don't understand is 
how Shad got here. I mean, what was he doing? How did he know to 
come here?"
	"Well, I left a message for him, to let him know that Kat 
had been kidnapped. Since she's his Trium. Adjunct, I thought he 
should know. I don't know how he got here or what he was doing in 
the MC though." she explained. "I hadn't mentioned Chi-Lin, I 
didn't have any way of knowing we'd end up here. So he must have 
decided to join the rescue effort and ended up here on accident 
or something."
	"That seems like a logical enough explanation." Phoe 
agreed. "Since it appears the Gate went down for the count, it's 
entirely possible that Mal attempted to get the Gate back up and 
running and it's possible Shad was the lucky test subject."
	"I wouldn't doubt that." Nexx replied, momentarily 
recalling what Mal had said to her earlier in the day at HQ. It 
was certainly not something that had inspired her trust. 
"Anyways," she pushed the thought back, "It doesn't matter how 
right now, we just need to get him out and find the others..." 
she broke off.
	"...If there's anything left to find." Phoe finished. "I 
know, the thought has occurred to me also. I don't think we 
should kid ourselves, it's entirely possible that they never made 
it to this end."
	The Commander of the Illegal Entries Division was in his 
office, and when he heard who was asking to see him, he had them 
sent in immediately. "Merten! Long time no see!" she called out 
the minute she stepped into his office, Phoe in tow. Her first 
thought was how her old friend had changed; his watery brown 
eyes, which always used to radiate enthusiasm and an almost 
irresistible amount of energy were sunken-in and tired, and his 
brown hair was showing the first signs of greyness. *Guess the 
desk job isn't agreeing with him much.* His smile, though, was 
still the same one, caring and warm. "Nexxus! Good to see you 
again. How long has it been? Two, three years?"
	"Seems longer, though... Congrats on your promotion, by 
the way."
	"Thanks. Speaking of which, what can I do for you?"
	"A friend of mine got arrested for illegal entry and 
causing a riot. I need your help to get him released. I'll take 
responsibility."
	"Ah yes, the unregistered shape-shifter." He tapped a 
paper on his desk. "I've just been reading the arrest report. He 
was also carrying around an unregistered heavy weapon and made 
the OIC of the squad look like a fool when he nearly escaped in 
the lobby...." He chuckled. "I'd like to talk to him myself. 
Let's go and see him, shall we?"
	The detention level was as hospitable as the day she'd 
first seen it. Harsh white lighting cast a forbidding edge on the 
stark grey corridor walls. Cell doors were spaced a couple of 
metres apart, with a guard standing at attention every ten. Nexx 
allowed herself to relax slightly at the sight of alertness-but-
not-in-emergency. *Guess Shad's still keeping patient...*
	After a brief walk they reached the door to Shad's cell. 
Merten nodded to the guard, who unlocked the door and opened it. 
Shad, in human form, was sitting on the floor in a lotus 
position, eyes closed, hands resting lightly on his knees. The 
handcuffs that had been around them were floating gently in mid-
air, about half a foot from his face. As they entered, Shad 
opened his eyes, smiled and stood up. The shadows in his cell 
stopped moving around and gathered under him.
	"Hello again, Nexx. Glad you could make it." Shad said.
	"Shad, meet Alexei Merten. He's the commander of IED 
hereabouts and an old friend of mine. Merten, meet Shadur 
t'Kharn, triumvir Praetor of the Jihad against B'harnii." Nexx 
introduced.
	Shad extended his hand. "Any friend of Nexxus is a 
friend of mine. Pleased to meet you."
	Merten took it. "Likewise. Welcome to Chi-lin. Nexx has 
already talked to me about your situation, and I'm prepared to 
let it go as a first offense. As long as it doesn't happen again, 
that is... Anyway, shall we go up to my office and finish the 
formalities?"
	As they exited the cell block a soldier made to handcuff 
Shad again, but Merten waved him off with a "Thank you, that 
won't be necessary."
	Once back in the office Merten sat down behind his desk, 
while Shad, Phoenix and Nexx remained standing in front of it. 
Grabbing a pen and a form, he began writing. "Ho-kay, Name? 
Shadur t'Khorn, right?"
	"t'Kharn."
	"Of course. Why did you enter Chi-Lin without reporting 
to Registration first?"
	"I was not aware that registering was required by law in 
this city. I don't know much about this entire dimension, for 
that matter. I'm only here to help save a friend in need."
	"Ah. I assume that is also why you were carrying that 
rifle?"
        Shadur nodded. So did Merten.
        "Well, I don't see any reason too keep you under custody. 
I'll have Registration prepare an ID badge for you, and once you 
have it, that'll do nicely. Don't let this happen again though. 
Nexxus, I'm officially releasing him into your custody, so you'll 
have to keep an eye one him."
	Nexx grinned at him. "Will do. Thanks a lot, Merten. See 
you around."
	"You're welcome. Good luck."
	Once they were outside, Shad grinned at her. "That went 
well... Good thing you knew him."
	"Oh, Merten and I go _way_ back. C'mon, let's get you an 
ID badge and we're out of here. Does Mal know what happened to 
the others, by the way?"
	"Others?"
	"Not everyone made it out at the designated exit point. 
Aris, Selvane and Kapella are still unaccounted for. Has Mal 
managed to contact them now that the Gate is back up?"
	"As far as I know, he hasn't gotten it back up yet. He 
was still working on it, the last time I saw him. He did mention 
something about scattering, though. It's likely that they just 
ended up somewhere else on this planet."
	Nexx stopped abruptly. "Wait a minute... If the Gateway 
still isn't working, then how the *hell* did you get here?"
        Shad grinned his most enigmatic grin. "I'm afraid I'm not 
at liberty to tell you that. It pays to read a lot, though. You 
never know what you might learn, or where the books will take 
you...."

To Be Continued In, "The Great Outdoors"