Missions of the Retrieval Team - A Spin of the Kilt

[davedove]

And now, the next installment of the adventures of the Retrieval Team:

A Spin of the Kilt

[davedove]

Opening Scene

Corporate Headquarters of Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe

Ms. Starling and I were posing as real estate investors in order to gain access to a firm suspected of swindling its investors. The authorities had been unable to gain enough evidence to obtain a search warrant.

We had been hired by some of the investors who had been cheated out of millions of dollars and wanted their money back. Unable to get relief through the legal system, they had turned to us.

We had originally tried to hack into the firm’s systems, but the files we needed were apparently kept in an isolated system. With no outside access, Ms. Swan could not hack in.

Ms. Starling and I were operating as a decoy. While we were keeping the staff occupied with our transactions, the rest of my team would access the system.

As Ms. Starling was discussing the one hundred million dollar deal, I casually glanced down at my watch. A small indicator light now showed red. That meant that Ms. Raven had broken into the computer room and planted the transmitter plug. This was a small wireless device that allowed Ms. Swan to access the private system of the firm.

Ms. Starling continued negotiating. The proposed deal would involve multiple transactions through Swiss and Cayman Island banks. The representative kept promising incredible returns, as much as three hundred percent in two weeks. Of course, they could promise anything, since they didn’t plan on paying anything.

I glanced at my watch again. This time there were two lights showing on the watch, both of them green. The transfer was complete.

I quickly interrupted the negotiation. “Thank you, Priscilla (Ms. Starling’s cover name), but I believe I am satisfied with the deal as it is.”

I turned to the firm’s representative. “Mr. Howe, I believe we can do business. If you will draw up the agreement, we will return tomorrow to make the transfers and close the deal.”

We all stood and Mr. Howe shook my hand. “Thank you, Mr. Dove. The papers will be ready first thing tomorrow.” I could see the greed in his eyes.

Ms. Starling and I left the building and went to the limousine waiting for us. The woman chauffeur opened the door for us.

“Raven is free,” she said quietly as I climbed inside.

“Thank you, Ms. Falcon,” I answered as she closed the door behind us.

Waiting in the limo was Ms. Swan, who was working on her laptop. “We got it all,” she said, “names, deals, bank accounts, the whole deal.”

“Thank you, Ms. Swan,” I responded. “Ms. Falcon, proceed to the pick up location so Ms. Raven may join us and then take us to the FBI building.”

[davedove]

Commercial Break

Gymnasium, Great Hall of X Marks the Scot

We see two men fencing. The larger man is pressing the smaller one and the smaller man calls for a rest.

“Enough,” he says. “I just don’t have the stamina today.”

“You just need a little pick-me-up,” says the larger man, who walks over to a cooler beside a bench at the side of the room. He reaches inside, pulls out a can, and tosses it to the other man.

The smaller man catches the can and reads the label. “X Juice?” he asks.

“Yeah, X Juice is the new energy drink from the good folks of X Marks the Scot. Its special formula combines a number of active ingredients to keep you going as long as you need.”

The smaller man takes off his mask, opens the can, and takes a big drink.

“Say, that’s good!” he says. “And, you know, I feel better already.”

“That’s the X Juice; it energizes you for whatever you need to do.”

“Amazing,” says the smaller man. He puts his mask back on and raises his foil. “En guarde!” he challenges.

[Livingston]

Looks like the summer writing season is upon us. This could be a good one.

[Dan R Porter]

Great so far...

also if all commercials were like that one I would be more inclined to pay attention

[Tartan Shortbread Jock]

Wow I always look forward to the Summer Blockbuster.
Are we aloud to stick in our own Commercial Breaks.

Hello there, do you have a spare 1million Dollars.
Then pop along to Dewey, Cheatum and Howe, where our
investors come first.

[Sionnach]

Love the names!

[davedove]

Scene 3

Security Suite, Great Hall of X Marks the Scot

“How is that possible?” Jamie asked. “I thought that Ivana had been captured by the I.C.E. and rehabilitated.”

“That was my understanding as well,” I said. “Is that being verified?” I asked Ms. Swan.

“Ms. Starling is contacting Ms. Partridge at the I.C.E. as we speak.”

At that moment, Ms. Starling walked into the office.

“I just finished speaking with Ms. Partridge,” she said. “According to her, Ivana Rulital has been rehabilitated and is living a normal life in England. The I.C.E. has agents monitoring Ivana regularly and she has shown no signs of reverting to her previous behavior. Ms. Partridge told me they would bring Ivana back in for tests.”

“If Ivana is being watched, how is it that she was at that business meeting yesterday?” Jamie asked.

“Unknown,” said Ms. Starling. “According to Ms. Partridge, Ivana was tending her shop all day yesterday.”

“We need to get to the bottom of this,” said Jamie. “If Ivana is loose we need to do something about it.”

“Indeed we do Jamie,” I said. “Let my team get to work on this and we’ll try to come up with some answers. In the meantime, you had better alert the rest of the Moderators. When we have something, we will call a briefing.”

“Very well, get to work and see what you can find. I’ll go talk with the others.”

Jamie walked from the room; I turned to Ms. Starling.

“Where’s the rest of the team?” I asked her.

“Hawk and Raven are outside,” she answered. “They’re cataloguing all possible entrances into the Great Hall. Falcon took Thrush and Stork into town to do some shopping. Crane and Pombo are still in South America doing work for the Foundation.”

“Okay, I’ll get in touch with the ones that went to town to call them back.”

I turned to Dee, who had stayed with us.

“Dee, would you help us round up my associates outside?”

“Sure,” he responded. “I believe I saw them trying to climb up the back wall, looking for a way in. I’ll go get them.”

“Thanks,” I said to him as he left the room.

[davedove]

Scene 4

Media Room, Great Hall of X Marks the Scot

I had called a meeting of the League of Moderators in order to present the information my team had assembled. As most of them were away on business of one sort or another, only Jamie and Bradley were present. A video screen showed the image of Ms. Partridge, who was on site at the M.H.I.C.E.

Ms. Starling was presenting our findings.

“As you all know,” she started, “some time back, the operatives at M.H.I.C.E. apprehended Ivana Rulital and her associate, Evan Moore Naste. According to Ms. Partridge, both of these individuals have undergone intensive rehabilitation and are now leading productive lives in the Dorset area. The I.C.E. continues to monitor them in case of any relapses.”

“However,” she continued, “just yesterday, Ivana Rulital was seen at a business meeting. Obviously, she could not be in two places at once, so we began to investigate. I contacted Ms. Partridge and she agreed to bring in Ivana to question her.”

“What did you find out, Ms. Partridge?” Jamie asked.

“Well,” Ms. Partridge answered from the screen, “the I.C.E.’s rehabilitation techniques normally result in correcting imbalances in the chemical makeup of the subject’s brain, thereby causing the subject to revert to a previous, non-deviant personality. In Ivana’s case, this meant that she reverted to a new age naturalist. She now wears only organic, cruelty-free clothing and runs a restaurant selling organic, vegan cuisine, along with natural remedies, crystals, and other similar items.”

“But if that’s the case,” asked Bradley, “how is it that she was at that business meeting?”

“We’re coming to that,” Ms. Starling continued. “As a result of her rehabilitation, the woman that had been known as Ivana Rulital began calling herself Rainbow Golden Stardust. On a hunch, we decided to research that name. Ms. Swan was able to find a picture of this person.”

Ms. Swan used her laptop to bring a picture up on the screen in front of us. It was clearly a picture of Ivana Rulital.

“This, of course, is a picture of the woman we all know as Ivana Rulital. Ms. Swan?”

Ms. Swan brought a picture of another woman up to the right of the first one.

“And this,” she said, “is a picture of the woman known as Rainbow Golden Stardust.”

“They could be sisters!” exclaimed Jamie.

“Exactly,” Ms. Starling agreed. “The two women are the same height, body frame, facial bone structure, and even eye color. All she would have to do is change her hair color to be easily mistaken for Ivana.”

“But,” she continued, “superficial similarities would not fool anyone who performed a close examination. Ms. Swan did some further research and discovered the name Rainbow Golden Stardust in the files of a Doctor Jaime Q. A. Newface. Dr. Newface is a surgeon, specializing in cosmetic surgery.”

“So you think he did surgery on this woman to make her look like Ivana?” asked Bradley.

“Yes, but there is more. I asked Ms. Swan to find out everything she could about this doctor. She had to hack into his files, but some very interesting things have been discovered. First of all, he is under retainer to Globo-Fashion and has performed several operations for them; usually minor cosmetic surgeries like face-lifts, tummy-tucks, and the like. That in and of itself is not so unusual for a company that focuses on appearance.”

“However,” she continued, “Dr. Newface also performed surgery on five women in a short time frame. Rainbow Golden Stardust was one of them. As for the others, Ms. Swan?”

Ms. Swan brought up four more pictures on the screen. Each of them bore a striking resemblance to Ivana Rulital.

[Tartan Shortbread Jock]

Wow League of Moderators, everyone warned me something funny was going on here.
I just did not see the signs. I thought it was all normal around here.
This is better than Flash Gordon.