Nomadic:Sessions:20160213
With most of the group packed into the helicopter, Marcus flies away from Gateway Stadium. After casting Minor Healing on Father Martin, Vicente directs Marcus to land at the warehouse.
Pete asks to borrow a cellphone. Vicente looks at him solemnly and asks, "Can you fly?" Pete avows that he only wants to give his superior the all-clear signal and nothing else. Pete taps in a number and says into the phone, "Kimmler's dead," then a string of numbers, concluding with "It's a righteous kill. Pay no attention to any helo sightings. Send [he lists four names] as cleanup to Gateway."
After consultation with Lori (who is riding in the Winnebago with Rick), the group places a food order, and Marcus lands the helo in a parking lot next to a burger joint [not Chili's]. Vicente renews the illusions and Riva, Jamal, and Weston step out of the helo and into the restaurant. The employees gape in astonishment as the Soulless Triad records a new song [a cover of "Valerie" by Amy Winehouse] and concludes with a message from Riva: "Stay cool, Gateway... Peace out."
At the warehouse, the group leaves Pete to deal with Case and Everett. Valerie takes Lori aside, slips her $50K cash, and explains, "Pete and his 'organization' are out to use you. Don't let them. If you decide to go that way, make it be on your terms and keep your eyes open."
Rick informs the group that he'd received an email from "the boss" as he calls him. The group is to follow a very specific route beyond Columbia SC to exit 91 off of Interstate 26, where a portal will appear precisely at 3:17am and remain open for just five minutes. The distance is only about 225 miles, but they have four days before the portal opens.
They decide to drive a few hours out of Gateway and get rooms at a Holiday Inn Express (Jack sleeps in the Winnebago). Newscasts are buzzing about the bizarre events at the stadium.
The next day they find a gun range where Jack, Marcus, Vicente, Valerie, and Rick practice shooting while Fr Martin studies the Bible. Valerie brings him a Coke. A TV inside the gun range is broadcasting Aaron Golden speaking at a live press conference.
As the group emerges from the gun range, Jack thinks he sees a man he knows as "Tennessee" riding in the passenger seat of a 1967 Mustang.
Later, in Columbia SC, Jack sees the Mustang again, occupied only by its driver, a petite blonde. The car has SC plates but they're slightly different from those on other cars.
Marcus and Father Martin go to Chili's, where the priest enjoys chicken tenders. Marcus flirts with a waitress.
It's after dark when the group arrives at exit 91. There's a Pilot truck stop on one corner. Jack goes for a walk in the woods, looking at the stars. Vicente climbs atop the Winnebago and watches Jack.
Jack locates a tree stand, recently but not currently occupied. Cut into the base of a tree is the symbol of The Project. Jack has a fleeting vision of Tennessee, his expression contorted with hatred and insanity, confronting a gray-haired, balding man in a lab coat.
As he hurries back to the Winnebago, Jack tells the others, "Keep your eyes peeled... There's something here I can't explain... I'll come talk to you about it."
Jack: "I don't want to interrupt the tea party, but I don't think we're alone. Someone else might be wanting to use this portal." He was once involved in a government project. Vicente: "You didn't leave on friendly terms?" Jack: "I... don't remember." He had been trained in warfare and violence. "I refused an order... I was locked up for thirty years [Valerie looks at him askance; Jack appears no older than 35]... I finally got out... Last thing I remember, there was an IED..."
Marcus sets up cameras and mics at the tree stand.
At 1:30am, two men enter the stand, a sniper and his spotter. The sniper sets up with his rifle aimed at the exit. He speaks into a headset, checking in, and Valerie tells Rick to get their frequency so they can hear what the other parties are saying.
Valerie sees a Mustang, matching the one Jack had described, parked in front of a convenience store across the way. Fr Martin walks over to the convenience store. The Mustang is unoccupied, but he can see a blonde woman inside the store. A rough-looking man leans against the car, apparently waiting for the woman.
At 2:00am, right after another checkin, Vicente casts Missile Shield and Levitate upon himself, and teleports behind the men in the stand. Gaining complete surprise, he casts Sleep on the spotter, then grabs the sniper and teleports back to the Winnebago. The sniper is momentarily stunned as a result of the teleport; Vicente zip-ties his hands and feet and searches him. Jack says "Take his headset off" as he goes out to the stand and ties up the sleeper.
Vicente sits on the sniper's chest and slaps him awake. "Who are you gonna shoot?" "Don't know -- some dead rogue agent... Cataloging what happens at that exit; been doing it for a week... We're humoring him... Big guy, unpredictably violent... He's gone on ahead... If we spot the rogue we're to call in a three-man team... they're bloodthirsty... respond within two to three minutes...." Vicente: "Will you check in for me?" Sniper: "Absolutely."
The blonde is glancing around uncomfortably. Fr Martin speaks to the man, who explains "She's worried about her boyfriend. I'm just waiting with her for him to pick her up." From across the way, Valerie murmurs into her headset, warning the priest that the man has a gun and a knife.
The woman emerges from the store. "Oliver," she addresses the man, "I can't get over the feeling that something's not right." "Blondie, he's fine, just running late," Oliver reassures her.
The sniper tells Vicente "We're looking for 'Wild Man'" and his description is that of Jack. Jack carries the still-sleeping spotter (whom he recognizes as someone from his old unit, though he doesn't remember his name) into the Winnebago. Vicente lets the sniper see the spotter, then tells him to go ahead and check in; "I will kill you if you do it incorrectly." Over his radio the sniper says, "Still quiet." The reply, in a feminine voice, is "Noted."
Jack says to the sniper, "You said 'dead rogue agent'. What do you mean by 'rogue'?" The sniper, seeing Jack for the first time, turns pale. "He didn't do as he was told... but he was blown up! I helped pick up the pieces!... I had nothing to do with the plan.... Had to have collateral damage, so an IED 'occurred'.... Tennessee is dangerous, violent, crazy... he's given the delusion that he's in charge, and that helps us steer him." Jack: "You're going to help us because...?" Sniper: "The only way to get home is Tennessee." Jack (clenching a fist for emphasis): "How do we get home?" Sniper: "Tennessee is a Transporter." Vicente: "What does Tennessee want with Wild Man?" Sniper: "Everyone else believes Wild Man is dead... We've seen odd things go through the portal, including a little '50s Porsche with the top down. We're taping everything... Sometimes Tennessee acts like Wild Man is his long-lost friend, then he turns around and blames him for all his troubles. For the past two or three years he's claimed Wild Man is still alive."
Blondie repeats to Oliver, "Something's not right." To Fr Martin, she says, "Father, you baffle me. I can't get a read on you." Father Martin replies, "I can't guarantee what would happen if you tried to. Ghosts and demons are my specialty." Blondie: "Well, you're definitely not a Fed. Oliver, I'm going in to talk to Brandon."
Awakened, the spotter recognizes Jack by name. "We performed search-and-destroy during the Sinai emergency." Over the sniper's radio the female voice says urgently, "Spotter 1, report." "Yes, sergeant." "What's your situation? I've got a bad feeling." "No unusual activity. Over and out, alibabra." He quickly explains to Vicente, "That's the code word to assure her that things are okay." Vicente, over the headset: "Next time you talk to the blonde, call her 'sergeant'."
Jack: "He's a little too cooperative." Marcus: "Pull out a fingernail." Jack: "Why not take the whole finger?" Marcus: "Fingernail hurts more."
Blondie slides behind the wheel of the Mustang, turns the key, and fiddles with the radio. Fr Martin gets the impression it's not a radio.
Vicente: "You're connected with a psychopath." Jack: "He won't stop, either. He had a power and couldn't control it. That's about when I got locked up." To the captives, Jack says, "Keep telling the truth and you'll stay alive." He exits and climbs atop the Winnebago.
Blondie signals to Oliver, who calls for another status check. "The sergeant is getting nervous." It occurs to both Vicente and Marcus that he's trying to trace the signal, so Vicente takes the sniper's and spotter's headsets and teleports to the tree stand.
Blondie again signals to Oliver, then steps out of the car. Father Martin remarks, "You almost look like a sergeant, giving all those hand signs." Blondie stares up at the priest for a long moment. Fr Martin: "Would you mind telling me about Exit 91?" "It's a dangerous place, a crossroads. We're trying to figure out how goods flow through here. Are you intending to pass through?" Fr Martin: "I go where I'm directed... You heard what happened in Gateway... I don't kill, I save. Darkness fell over the city. An evil man tried to kill thousands. And he was stopped." Blondie: "I remember. There were reports of a Winnebago."
Fr Martin: "Who gives you orders?" Blondie: "My boyfriend. He has been through Exit 91 many times." "It's a path to another world." "So you are a traveler." "You could say that. A nomad." "We're two groups passing in the night. We're mapping out the roadway. Scouting. I'm a lowly sergeant trying to keep my captain and general from making stupid mistakes, as we have from time eternal."
Suddenly Blondie stiffens. "Spotter 1, are you compromised?" "Yes, ma'm." Blondie instructs Oliver and Brandon (another man who has been lurking around the front of the store) to place their weapons carefully into the car. Once they disarm, Marcus comes around the corner with his M16 trained on them. "Hello," he says cheerfully, then proceeds to pat each of the three down. On Oliver he finds a switchblade, with which Marcus 'accidentally' scrapes him before taking it away.
As Marcus herds the three to the Winnebago, Jack realizes that Blondie has spotted him and hops down off the roof. Marcus zipties their hands and sends them in one at a time, where Vicente zipties their feet.
Jack: "Somehow I became a 'rogue agent'." Blondie: "You refused an order.... So you know about Project Omega. The corporal said you were dead." Jack: "We have no intention of hurting you. Let us go through the portal and leave us alone." Vicente: "But then Tennessee will come and kill you in anger." Blondie: "Leave us at the observation stand. They can't follow you through the portal until tomorrow. We don't need this portal that much, since Tennessee is a Transporter."
(Over the headset, Valerie says to Vicente, "Doesn't this remind you of that biker Nathan from Nexus Oversight, and their enemy Centrum?")
Vicente reads Blondie's Aura and sees some meta markers similar to (and stronger than) Jack's. Vicente: "Can you break out of those ties?" Blondie: "I could. Can you read the Kirlian aura?" Jack demonstrates how easily zipties can be broken. Vicente: "Can she do it while she's unconscious?" Jack: "No..."
The five captives are taken to the tree stand and tied up with rope. Marcus hands Blondie his card and winks, "I'd like to see you sometime." Meanwhile, Fr Martin pulls some high-tech equipment out of the Mustang and carries it to the Winnebago.
Vicente catches a momentary glimpse of a white stag, a mystical animal associated with portals.
Jack takes the lead, driving the Winnebago with Fr Martin and Rick as passengers; Marcus gets behind the wheel of the LandRover with Vicente riding shotgun; Valerie hops onto the hypercycle. The caravan swings around to approach Exit 91. At precisely 3:17 Jack sees the portal open before him; he accelerates the Winnebago and rolls through, followed closely by Marcus. Valerie hangs back to watch for anyone who may be trying to follow Jack. She sees a sedan with a middle-aged couple in the front seat and a child's car seat visible in the back. She guns the bike, cuts directly in front of the sedan; the driver brakes hard, and Valerie zooms through the portal, which shuts behind her. She jumps the bike and spins in a complete circle, but no one is behind her.
During the jolt of transiting the portal, in a mental flash Jack perceives a highway exit sign reading 'Newberry' and a two-story brick building that has an "official" look about it, like a city hall. In another mile, after a quick poll of the group, he takes the Newberry exit. As they drive along Newberry road, the group becomes aware that they are in Newberry SC, population about 10,000; the date is Jume 18, 2008, a Wednesday; and it is a little after 9:00am. On the right Jack sees a sign for Newberry College, and observes that its administration building looks exactly like the one in his vision.
Marcus checks a campus bulletin board for upcoming events and notes there is a Democratic political rally taking place later in the week.
Fr Marcus goes and sits in the grass, leaning against a shady tree and performs his daily meditation, asking for guidance.
Jack, Vicente, and Marcus enter the admin building. In the reception area they are greeted by a pleasant-looking gray-haired woman seated at a very modern-looking workstation. Between questioning the administrator and glancing through various brochures and catalogs, they learn that Newberry is a small (1000 students) liberal-arts college. Vicente remarks that the math and science departments are disproportionately large for a liberal-arts school, and the admin explains that within the last ten years "a rich alumnus who doesn't want to be named" gave the school "a lot of money" to build up those departments. She demurs when Vicente asks the donor's identity, until he casts Foolishness on her and she names Dr Sheldon Knapp of the Rand Corporation.
Marcus asks about the upcoming rally, and the receptionist says rather disparagingly that several Democratic presidential candidates -- Sanders, Clinton, Kennedy, Obama -- will be in attendance. "Kennedy?" asks Marcus. "Yes, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr." Vicente comments, "South Carolina is not a Democratic state."
Meanwhile, Valerie wanders through the Hawkings Educational Building. It is very modern in design, in stark contrast with the rest of the campus; according to a plaque it was dedicated in 2003. Along the walls of the foyer are photographs of scientists such as Albert Einstein and Edward Teller, models of various spacecraft and the Goddard Space Station (described as 'under construction, to be completed in 2012'), and an exhibit describing the discovery of a wormhole in space. Pausing outside a classroom on the second floor, Valerie hears a young professor, Dr Thorn, lecturing on gravitational waves and Ley lines.
Vicente asks to see the president of the college. "I'm confused about the preponderance of scientific courses in a liberal-arts college." The admin's demeanor turns noticeably cooler; at first she says Vicente will have to make an appointment, but eventually, after a murmured phone call, she says "Dr Sullivan can see you at 10:00am" (in fifteen minutes). Vicente and Marcus try to question her further, but she says frostily, "I'm too busy right now to chat."
On his way back to the Winnebago, Jack is intercepted by a male student, who says out of the blue, "You look out of place. Are you here about ROTC? They discontinued that program 20 years ago. You look like you're casing the place. Coming for the rally?" Jack replies, "I'm visiting my kid -- had her when I was young." "I'm in the science curriculum here. Good school, close to home." "Well, study hard," Jack says, walking away.
The admin finally says, "Dr Sullivan will see you now." A heavy wood door opens, and Dr Sullivan gestures for them to enter his impressively furnished office. Vicente checks the man's Aura: basically a good man; high empathy; the lowest level of Magery. "What can I do for you gentlemen?" Vicente: "Why is a liberal-arts college so heavily weighted in the hard sciences?" Sullivan repeats the admin's story about a rich alumnus who earmarked a donation for the study and teaching of science. Vicente: "What's your degree in?" Sullivan: "My Master's degree is in Education; my doctorate is in Business Administration. There's not that many people in the science curriculum, relatively speaking." (Vicente perceives that this is a lie.) Sullivan: "Is science your interest, too, Mr Johnson?" Vicente: "No, he's a Republican."
Sullivan: "Carbone, is it? I must admit your last name is familiar to me. It's an organized crime family in the greater Chicago area. They've been under investigation for alleged mob activity." Vicente acknowledges that he's from Chicago, "but I've been out of the country for a while. I'm not on the best terms with my relatives, and to set your mind at ease, I have no formal connections with those Carbones." Sullivan: "And... Johnson. Really? It's a very popular family name in the United States." Marcus: "Yes, it's a very big name."
Vicente: "Does Dr Knapp come around here much?" Sullivan: "He visits from time to time." Vicente: "Will he be around this week?" Sullivan: "I believe he and a couple of colleagues are going to participate in a couple of discussions on campus." Vicente: "Okay. We'd like to hear from him." Sullivan: "You two gentlemen didn't present yourselves as being of the scientific persuasion." Marcus: "You didn't ask." Vicente: "No, my degree is in History, with a minor in Occultism." Marcus: "And you have no idea what I do." Sullivan says he'll see if he can arrange for them to meet Knapp.
Sullivan: "The name Carbone has been in the news as being under investigation over the past year. And your being here with a 'Mr Johnson', of course, makes me wonder." Marcus: "I'm surprised you find my name so suspicious." Sullivan: "Not really suspicious. Just... it has implications." Marcus: "Such as?" Sullivan (in sarcastic tones): "'Hello, I'm Mr Johnson, and this is Mr Johnson, and we're here to help you.'" Marcus: "So you think my name is some sort of joke?" Sullivan: "It is a popular pseudonym for 'certain agencies'." Marcus: "You must be a big fan of movies or something." Sullivan: "I have watched a few in my time. Unfortunately, I've actually interacted with people of 'that persuasion'. They definitely don't have a sense of humor about it at all. Just like you're displaying. I've had occasion to interact with the United States government, yes." Marcus: "You must live a pretty interesting life." Sullivan: "It's become more interesting in the last decade, I will grant you that." Vicente: "Is that when y'all got y'all's endowment?" Sullivan: "Starting about ten years ago, yeah."
Vicente: "Do y'all have any courses on Ley lines?" Sullivan: "I think in the science department they're discussing gravitational-magnetic Ley lines, yes." Vicente: "I'll have to look that up."
Deep in meditation, Fr Martin becomes vaguely aware that a young coed is standing right in front of him, staring down at him. [Bill: "You're just a chick magnet, aren't you? You put that collar on, and they can't stay away!"] "Are you okay?" she asks. He chooses not to respond to her, and after a few moments she walks away.
Sullivan: "Did you just arrive in town?" Vicente: "Yes. We're going to go get lodgings..." Sullivan: "Well, welcome, I'm glad you're here, I hope you enjoy your stay. I'll mention you to Knapp and his visiting friends. And I didn't mean to offend you, Mr Johnson. It's just that your name is very popular among Federal agents -- FBI, NSA, CIA..." Marcus: "No offense taken. Quite amusing... We'll leave our contact information with your secretary."
Valerie lets herself into a room filled with high-tech equipment, dominated by some kind of holographic projector. She sits down at the control panel and it lights up. Valerie says aloud, "What am I doing here?" On a display appear the words, Increasing your knowledge and advancing the human race. Valerie: "Show me." For more detailed information above the Guest level, please key the access code. Below these words are three blanks. Carefully, Valerie types in a b c.
[Bill: "Sorry, Jack, you didn't get to shoot anybody." James: "Jack is not violent!"]
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