[Irn0rchid]

Greaves looks amused.  "The he is my superior, Commander Ross."  He stands and motions with his arm, but the other officer does not seem to see him, even though he looks right past him.  Tanya Marisart gives her escort a nudge and nods her head in the direction of your table.  Ross seems to notice Greaves and nods, moving towards you.  A hurrying waiter scurries over to pull a chair out for the British woman.  Ross looks at you with more interest than he spares for Greaves, but the colonel grabs his attention.  "Commander, how nice to see you.  How is Helen?"

The commander looks a bit non-plussed and reddens a bit at the mention of the woman's name.  "My wife is fine, Greaves.  Thank you for asking.  She has hied off to her mother's again.  Damn witch.....never could stand her."  He looks around the table.  "Um, my wife's mother, not my wife, of course."

Greaves motions to you and says, "Sir, may I introduce my companion?  This is Rachel........"

He seems to be at a slight loss for words, realizing that he does not know your last name.  Tanya artfully covers by saying, "Rachel!  How are you dear?  We met at that tiresome charity auction thing the other night.  Libraries or something, wasn't it?  Fancy meeting you here, my dear."

[Irn0rchid]

As the new pair approaches their table Rose eyes Tanya and nods in recognition. Looking a little taken aback by the Commander's initial comment, her laughter is clearly forced as he tries to save his verbal blunder. The laughter is much more genuine when Tanya mentions the charity event, "Yes, I recall. It was 'for the children' though." Grinning, "At least the food here is cheaper!"

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya gives you what is almost certainly a genuine smile as the waiter seats her.  The colonel also gives you a smile, but Commander Ross is a bit more uncomfortable.  He sits down between you and Tanya at the table and is that a slight glare he gives Colonel Greaves?  Apparently your escort is far more at ease in his boss' company that the other way around.  Meals and drinks are ordered for the newcomers and the conversation goes back to talking about the weather, although it appears that Tanya has interests in both the local Blood bowl team and matrix gaming, neither of which are shared by Ross.  It comes out that she is deeply into the Vampire Hunter game and has a couple of high level characters there.  She seems very personable, but then someone in her position might be expected to be, right?  Twice during lunch it appears that Commander Ross is going to say something derogatory to Colonel Greaves, but Tanya puts a hand on his arm and he calms down.

[Irn0rchid]

Intrigued by the interplay between the two men, Rose can't help but wonder if this is part of the reason that Ni Ni contacted Greaves and not someone higher up the chain, like the Commander. "So how do the two of you like working for KE? Have you been doing it for a long time?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Commander Ross nods as he finishes chewing a bite.  "I have served KE honorably from a beat cop on up.  I went straight to the force from high school and never looked back.  I believe that Colonel Greaves is pretty much the same, eh?"

"Yes sir, that is correct.  Slightly different trails, but fairly close.  I feel honored to have been given the opportunity to continue to serve in Seattle."

"Um, yes.  Of course, Greaves, of course.  I have a slightly higher goal,though.  Mustn't tell secrets, but there are some changes coming down.  We should talk about them, Colonel.  Perhaps after the next weekend.  I will be busy until then."

After a few more minutes of chatter, a uniformed officer approaches the table and presents the Commander with a tablet.  he reads it and his face turns a nice shade of purple. "Damned gangers.  Pardon my language, ladies.  It appears that there have been some issues between two of the go-gangs over turf and I am called away for meetings.  I do apologize, Lady Marisart.  I had hoped to spend a good bit of time with you.  Perhaps later?"

"Yes, Commander.  Perhaps later.  Thank you for the invitation.  I am sure that Colonel Greaves can see me out."

After the Commander leaves, Colonel Greaves and Tanya Marisart look at each other then both turn their heads to look at you.  Tanya begins talking about how delicious her meal is and leans over as if to offer you a bit from a clean fork.  Her voice is low and apparently only for you and Greaves.  "You have about ten seconds to get into something bloody great that could mean life and death to many people in many places.  Simply nod if you want in or do nothing and this conversation will never have taken place.  It is asking a lot, but it is important."

After giving you the bite, Tanya sits back down and watches you.

[Irn0rchid]

Rose thinks for a moment, "Wha... Uhm... I can't speak for the other two, but this certain sounds interesting. Might not pay like the Thailand gig though... I guess it can't hurt to find out more..." Rose raises her eyebrows and nods.

[Mercy Merchant]

Colonel Greaves places his napkin on the table and stands up.  The waiter senses that the meal is over and hustles forward to assist the ladies from their chairs.  Lady Marisart takes the time to thank the waiter for the good service and then follows Greaves as he heads to the door of the dining room.  Tanya falls in next to you as you follow the KE colonel down the hall towards the elevators that will take you back to his office.  Or not, as it turns out.  Once in the elevator, the troll pushes the button for both the first and garage levels as he takes a fancy comlink from his pocket.  "Doris, I am off for my afternoon golf session at the club.  Let me know if something comes up, will you?  Thanks."  He replaces the 'link and says, "Alright.  That clears me for the afternoon.  Good of you to at least want to hear us out, Rachel.  We need people like you on board." 

You and Tanya get off the elevator at the ground floor but Colonel Greaves remains to continue down to the garage.  Tanya takes your arm and walks with you.  Her pace is slow enough to not raise any attention and she continues the somewhat useless chatter from lunch until you leave the building.  She nods and calls the two security guards at the door by their names and asks about their families.  One outside, she motions to a huge Rolls Royce limousine parked at the curb.  The uniformed driver is waiting for her with a door open to the cavernous rear compartment.  Tanya stops with you as you leave the stairs and stand on the open plaza.  "I am putting the address of the country club on the com code I am sending you.  Please come.  If you change your mind, please let me know.  I would like to meet with you there in two hours, which ought to give you time to go home and discuss this with your friends.  I..........we...........are impressed with the attitudes and skills displayed by you and would like to invite you to help us save lives.  It will not be easy and will almost certainly be very dangerous, so think carefully.  You do not yet know enough to hurt our cause, so I am not worried if you decide to decline this chance to do something great.  I leave it to you.  The guard at the entry gate will have your names if you decide to come out.  I would like to save most of your questions for later, but is there one I can answer that might help you decide to come out?"

[Irn0rchid]

Rose thinks for a second before realizing the biggest difference in the two potential jobs, "Does the work with you guys pay? Helping others out is great, but we still have to make ends meet." She laughs and waves at the limo, "Well, some of us."

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya laughs as she follows your hand motion.  She turns to go towards the car but calls over her shoulder.  "How does half a mil sound?"  Before you can really get your mind around what she has just said she slides into the rear compartment and the driver closes the door.  The long limo glides silently away from 1 Police Plaza and heads out into traffic, leaving you standing there.

[Irn0rchid]

As Tanya drives off, Rose can't help but think, "Was that total, or each?!" Calling for the car, she idles outside the building. "Well, we certainly have a lot to talk about and not much time to do it in..." Suddenly realizing she never heard the results of the tests on the vials and what was going to be done with them, she turns and almost heads back inside but then realizes she can ask him later if they go through with this new job, and if they don't, she can try and contact him then. Messaging Robin, <<Hey, dropoffs all done. Don't have to worry about that drek anymore. New worries though. Have a new job proposition from the Colonel and our 'old friend' Tanya Marisart. I'm heading back now and we can talk about it, but if we're interested we have a meeting in less than two hours!>> A few minutes later the car pulls up, looking completely different from the one that dropped her off, and she gets in and head back to Elaine's place.

[Mercy Merchant]

Elaine and Robin are both waiting for you as you step into the house.  They start talking at the same time then Elaine looks over at Robin and laughs, motioning her to go first.  "So give.  What happened and what is this about a new job?"

[Irn0rchid]

Rose laughs and motions for them to sit down. Once they're all seated she starts explaining, "So both hand-offs went fine. I'd still like to find out a little more about what KE is going to do with the vials, but that got interrupted by the new opportunity I mentioned. I was eating lunch with Greaves when we were joined by his boss and Tanya Marisart," she pauses for Elaine's exclamation of surprise. "Yup, not sure why she was there, but once the Commander left, she quickly offered me the chance to 'do some good' and I accepted to find out more. I'm supposed to meet with her at the country club shortly if we're interested. Sounds like it might be a good opportunity, but it would likely conflict with the Thailand job we'd been talking about. Oh, and did I mention, she said it pays half a million..."

[Mercy Merchant]

Both women exclaim at the amount of money you mention and both ask you if that is per person or a total.  There is some discussion about yes or no but it is decided that the offer should be heard and all three of you should be there.  Robin looks closely at you.  "Is this something you want to get into?  I mean, we have some money already, more that we have had before.  People do not pay that amount of money for nice, easy, or safe jobs.  All the money in the world would not be enough if I lost you."

[Irn0rchid]

"Nice, easy, and safe can end up being boring though, no? Yes we've got some money now, but it's not going to last all that long, especially with three of us. Did you think the Thailand job would be a walk in the park? I think we kind of lucked out with this one here," she smiles at Elaine, "but isn't 'dangerous' kind of what we signed up for back when we decided to start doing this?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Robin nods.  "OK. You are right, as always.  Let's go see what she thinks is worth half a million."