[Mercy Merchant]

Roger nods his head.  "Nah.  She does not need to know that part now.  She is struggling with her own issues.  Who are these Shadow Land fraggers anyway?  They have just ruined a lot of lives and for what?  Some silly manifesto against entertainers?  Sheer insanity, I tell you.  Sheer insanity."

The waiting goes on for those still in the room.  Some of the other people come and go.  Three times a doctor comes to the room and families leave in tears as they get bad news about a loved one.  Twice the doctors dispense good news.  For the rest, it is a game of waiting and hoping.  Two trid reporters try to get into the waiting room but are chased off by security.  Finally the same doctor as earlier comes out to talk to you and Roger.  You can tell that he is as exhausted as you are as he begins to speak.  "Cinnamon is done with the surgeries that we can do for her.  She is an amazing woman, but if she lives it will be due to her 'ware.  Almost everything she has is military grade, which gives her a better than even chance.  Time will tell and we should know in a few hours.  She is still sedated and I cannot allow visitors at this time.  I would advise going home and getting some rest as it could be several hours."

[PRabel]

"Thanks doc for everything you've done for her."
He turns to Roger after the doctor leave and says:"Mind if I go back to the hotel? I'm starting to feel really tired and could use some sleep. Give me a call if you have anything new."
He says goodbye to Stella too and leaves the waiting room, while trying to avoid the press as much as he can.

[Mercy Merchant]

Friday  8 June 2075  0130  Sisters of Mercy Hospital  Seattle


Leaving the hospital, you see a tired trid reporter interviewing someone, but you are left alone to take a cab back to the hotel.  The condition of your clothes is such that the doorman almost refuses you entrance until you show your ID.  He scans it closely then realizes who you are and who are with and gets all apologetic.  He asks about Nova as he opens the door for you.  The lobby is mercifully empty at this hour and you ride the elevator in solitude.  You enter the suite and walk to your bedroom and part of your mind says that the quality of the hotel sort of sucks as the maid has not been in all day.  You crash almost as soon as you slip your clothes off, too tired to even take a shower. 

You wake much refreshed.  Your body tells you that it needs to use the toilet and your nose tells you that you need a shower.  The hot water feels very nice, but there is something niggling at your mind the entire time that decreases the pleasure you get from an unlimited ration of hot water.  It does not come to you until you are drying off........................the room is not messy because the maid did not come, but because it was tossed.

[PRabel]

As the doorman apologizes he says:"No problem, I wouldn't let myself in in this condition too. Nova will be OK, thanks for asking."

After drying and realizing what happened, he takes on some clothes, grabs his Predator and starts to serch the suit for any clue and calls Roger, hoping that he is awake:
>>Boss, something is not right at the hotel. I didn't realized it when I get here, probably because I was too tired, but someone was in here and turned the place upside down. I think they was searching for something. I check the other rooms I have access too. Do you think we should call the badges?<<
He also calls the hotel reception to ask if someone was looking for them, while they were gone.

He goes to the living room, gun at his side and sees if he can open the door to Cinn's room. If it won't open, he proceeds tho Nova's room to check that out too.
*I wonder if they were looking for me or Cinn. Maybe we should stand guard at her door too at the hospital*

[Mercy Merchant]

You get no reply from Roger.  Perhaps he is asleep and has his comm off.  The hotel receptionist tells you that several trid reporters had been by earlier and had gone up, but the hotel security had removed them, although it had been difficult and took all four of the security staff to remove the two men.  The door to Cinn's room is wide open and her part of the suite is in disarray as well, and you know it was not because of what you and she had done.  As you enter the hall you get a message from Larry.  >>Hey, G, better get back here.  Rog and Stel are down and being treated.  Leroy is a goner and I need back up out here.  Talk more when you get here.  Suits and KE are all over the place.  Out.<<

[PRabel]

*Hmm, they really wanted to get the story from the source or maybe they were the distraction to allow someone to get in the room unnoticed.*

As he get the message from Larry, he answers: >>Hold thight Larry, I'll be there as fast as I can.<< He puts his pistol in the holster and quickly grabs two more clips  filled with live rounds and puts on one of the armor jackets. As he makes his way the the entrance, he calls the reception to call the fastest transport available, so he can get back to the hospital without delay.
*What the hell is going on here? This is some really deep drek I get myself into.*

Once there, he goes straight to Larry and asks for an update on the situation.

[Mercy Merchant]

The hospital entrance area is full of KE guys milling about and trying yo look useful.  Two run scanners on you and your gun immediately pops up, causing about ten men to be pointing guns at you.  It takes about five minutes with you on the ground before someone clears you to go on up.  The KE guys do not look very apologetic as one helps you to your feet and hands you your pistol back.  They are clearly overreacting to the situation.  Arriving at the waiting room on Cinn's floor you have to go through another scan, although this is interrupted by some senior officer who escorts you down the hall to the waiting room.  The small room is empty and cordoned off with yellow do-not-cross tape.  You see a pool of drying blood on the floor and blood spatter on the wall, near the bench you remember Leroy sitting on.  You see that there is other splatter and lots more blood pooling in the hallway just off the waiting room as you are led to where Larry is standing.  His jacket is off and a nurse is finishing applying a bandage to his upper left arm.  He looks up as you approach and nods.  "Glad to see you, G.  SItrep is two gunmen mixed with the crowd in the waiting room.  Leroy never had a chance.  Roger was just getting back there from talking to me when they shot him.  Stella jumped on one and got shot for her trouble, but she delayed the man long enough.  I got both shooters.  One lived and is in surgery now.  Rog and Stel are expected to survive.  Got a minor wound for my trouble.  End of sitrep.  So, what the hell is going on, G?  Any ideas?"

[PRabel]

"It is a bit late to act tough, don't you think guys. Besides, if I wanted to smuggle in some weapon, there are far better choices, than a fraggin Predator." He says as he lays face down on the pavement.

When he finally gets in the waiting room and hears out Larry about what happened, he looks around and says: "I'm sorry about Leroy, but it is good to see, that you are more or less OK. I should have stayed here with you guys. Maybe I could have delayed them a bit more or even get one of them so Roger and Stella would be ok. I really hope they survive.
Honestly, I'm starting to think, that this is not about the fraggin' entertainment business. This hole thing is aimed at one of us, probably at Cinn. They just use the whole Shadow Land crap as a cover story for the collateral damage they cause. The suit where Cinn and I sleep got turned upside down while we were gone. Like they were searching for something. I can't tell about the other room, because I had no time to check it after you texted me. The other thing is, someone, who claimed to be at the security service was asking me about Cinn just before the explosion and gave me a false comm-code to contact him later.
What can you tell me about the two gunman? Were they shooting at everyone or were they looking just for you and the others?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Larry nods his head.  "Nah, they were gunning for us.  They knew who to look for to take out first.  He never had a chance, poor chummer.  A good partner, too.  I will miss him.  He never said much, but I liked him.  I appreciate you coming in as it is just us, now.  But now it is just two of us, so how do you want to work shifts?  Cinn is right down there so we can see both doors.  I might recommend sleeping in one of the rooms since the waiting room is off limits.  We are both fragging exhausted right now, so one of us should be resting."

[PRabel]

"Yeah, that's what I suspected, but we can't get to the bottom of it, until everyone recovered. I think you should rest first. I had a few hours of sleep in the hotel. I watch them, until you slept enough."

*This will be a long watch. They really want to get rid of one of us...or all of us.*

[Mercy Merchant]

Larry nods.  "Thanks, G.  There was no real time for a lot of rest between getting off and being wakened to come back after the explosion.  I will sit in Nova's room so wake me if you need to."  He winces as he moves his shoulder then goes into Nova's room, leaving you in the hall to watch over both doors.  The time passes slowly, but it does give you time to think and go over everything that happened since you woke up a couple of days ago.  Lots of stuff does not make sense, but it does seem that someone is willing to kill a lot of innocent people to get to at least one of you.

[PRabel]

"No problem, Larry. Hopefuly I won't need your help."
*So this is what we know: a group or a person really wants to put one of us six feet deep in the ground. If I have to guess, they are after Cinn. If everything I know about her is true, she is a prime target and is probably too dangerous to take out with a frontal assault without drawing too much unwanted attention. A bombing in the name of a terrorist group is a logical move. They counted on the fact, that she may survive the explosion, that's why they sent the two gunman to finish the job. At least that is my theory. I don't think I have any enemy with that kind of resource, but I don't know about Roger, Stella and Larry. We'll get to the bottom of it. Right now I have to keep my eyes and ears open.*

[Mercy Merchant]

Thursday  7 June 2075  0400  Sisters of Mercy Hospital  Seattle


The first part of the night passes quietly.  The doctors and nurses go about their business.  A couple of KE guys show up to stand guard on Cinn and Nova's doors.  Their supervisor indicates that they are just there in case someone lunatic makes another attempt.  You are told that both of the dead attackers were carrying pamphlets indicating that they were from the Shadow Land terrorist group.  At about 0400, a doctor comes to tell you that Roger and Stella have come through the worst of it and will be moved to rooms one floor down from this one.

[PRabel]

*At least they going to be OK. But I'm still worried about them being moved to another floor. I still thinks this whole Shadow Land drek is just  a cover for the attacks. They can be still in danger. Larry and I still have to work in shifts if we don't want to pass out. We are already pretty tired.*
He asks the KE guy's supervisor if they could provide protection for Stella an Roger too.

[Mercy Merchant]

Thursday  7 June 2075  0500  Sisters of Mercy Hospital  Seattle


The KE supervisor indicates that there are men on Rogers and Stella's door as a precaution.  It is normal in cases like this.  A very loud and strange noise begins to come from Cinn's room.  The KE guy at the door seems quite startled and looks in the room.  Several nurses followed by a doctor rush past you to the door, shouldering aside the cop and going into her room.  You hear lots of loud voices calling out medical terms you are not familiar with, but it all looks like a very real trid drama.