Project Boussh: Triple Threat
by Majick

    Mike stretched and twisted, popping the tendons all over his body. The
sound clearly revolted the woman in the baggage claim queue behind him, so
he did it again. Satisfied he'd gotten as much entertainment from her as he
was likely to, he slouched back into his normal posture.
    After collecting his bag, he consulted the photos Sci had supplied of
the Rogues and the Wraiths, correctly surmising the NRI holo's would attract
attention here in Dulles International. He frowned at the image of Elassar
Targon, one of his three contacts, and wondered how the devilish Devaronian
dealt with his appearance.
    "Well, he's worked with Intelligence so long, I'm sure he has his ways,"
Mike thought.
    He scouted the airport for potential contacts. After a few minutes he
found himself in the video games arcade, and decided to while away a few
minutes in the midst of the hall. Approaching the X-Wing simulator, it
clicked in his mind that there were three people there already. A short
woman stood impatiently, with her back to Mike, while in the simulator's
cockpit sat a tall, regal looking man, with a dark skinned companion in a
ludicrous wooly hat in the gunnery position. The woman was clearly not happy
with her colleagues.
    "His flight was announced an hour ago. We should be out there looking
for him. Will you come on?"
    The darker of her companions replied.
    "Come on, Shalla. We've almost got it this time. Me and Bror make a heck
of a team, huh buddy?"
    "Quite," replied the taller man. "However, I am not your 'buddy'... At
best we are comrades, but it'll be a long time before anyone with your poor
gunnery skills qualifies as a friend of mine."
    "Aw c'mon Bror. Loosen up a little. It's only a game. Just a little
fun."
    "I treat games of skill like they were real. If you did too, maybe you'd
be a more effective pilot."
    "Oh, and then what, I could fly for the Thyferra Home Defence Corps?
Please!"
    Mike decided to intervene before their cover was completely blown.
    "You know," he began, making all three jump. "You guys make a lot of
noise for a covert insertion team."
    Shalla spun round, dropping into a defensive stance. Mike looked her
over appreciatively, before turning his gaze to the two men as they pulled
themselves clear of the cockpit. Shalla was a beautiful brunette, her
clothing a throwback to the new romantic era that had had its day at the
time of Mike's birth. Bror was clad in a pair of shorts in a nauseating
pink, which clashed revoltingly with his banana yellow shirt. only Elassar
looked vaguely normal, wearing a thick jacket and baggy jeans.
    "Who chose your clothes, people? You don't exactly fit in, you know." He
gestured around to the rest of the airports inhabitants. Smartly dressed
businessman, casually dressed tourists, even the airport workers. The New
Republic trio made an impression, and were garnering more stares by the
minute, especially the colourful Bror.
    "You have money? We need to get you some clothes. Like, now."

    A prolonged period later, they walked out of the final clothes shop.
Elassar's look was largely unchanged, although he had added a leather
trenchcoat to his look. Mike had chosen for Bror a boy band approach,
recognising Bror's good looks couldn't hurt their mission. Khaki's were
teamed with a vest to show off the pilots toned physique, and already Bror
had attracted much female attention. Shalla had been the easiest of them to
dress. A simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt emblazoned wit 'What Are You
Looking At?' transformed the Ingoan woman into the subject of much
attraction.
    "I thought the idea was to stay covert," Shalla commented after brushing
off her umpteenth admirer of the afternoon.
    "No, to blend in. This is Washington, people. Half the folks you see
around here are Secret Service and police. Anyone looking like their trying
to appear covert gets watched. Going with the flow attracts the minimum of
scrutiny, and, well, you two are good looking enough that you distract
attention from me and Elassar."
    "I'm good looking!" the Devaronian protested.
    "Elassar, I have to tell you, even with all your lucky charms even with
that gilding set of yours, you're not going to have much luck with Terran
girls."
    "Gilding set?" Bror asked, turning from his surveillance of the White
House. "What's that about?"
    Elassar muttered something under his breath, and Mike pulled Shalla
aside.
    "OK, what's the story with these two?" he demanded.
    "Well, right after we found out the three of us were working together,
and we started our flight, Bror's engines cut out. That's why we're so late.
Elassar was all over him, really getting under Bror's skin, and eventually
he lost his cool. They've been sniping at each other all the way from
there."
    "They don't seem too bad..." Mike commented.
    "They're hiding it from you, but I recommend wherever we're staying
tonight, it's four single rooms. With the two of them at either end."
    Mike blinked, and looked at Shalla. "First off, there's no accommodation
sorted?"
    "Well, we got thrown out of the place we stayed last night for
fighting..."
    Mike looked at the two men, who were quietly squabbling. "Them?" he
asked.
    "Actually, it was me," Shalla said, with an embarrassed look on her
face. "The head waiter kept making passes at me, and I over reacted. Soon,
the whole place was brawling, and we got the blame."
    "Outstanding. I take it you've seen the news. With Wedge deciding not to
run, the office of President of the USA is standing empty. Clinton's in
charge for the time being, but in the meantime, every reporter is either
here or in Florida. I don't fancy our chances of getting a room at this time
of day. We should start looking now."
    "What about the hunt for Quiara?"
    "Without more information, we're going to have to wait."
    "What sort of information are we looking for?"
    "I don't know the States that well, so I was hoping maybe the US based
AFW'ers could help me out with little things like where I can find George W.
Bush, Bob Dole and their main campaign offices. I think Becki's team is
working similar lines, but with two parties, maybe we can split the work
load."
    "Any other plans?"
    "Yeah, track down Quiara's last known whereabouts, and try and pick up
the trail from there. For now, though, I've had a long day, and I'm in need
of some sleep. Let's pick up the kids and move off."
    The two stepped between the arguing men, and led them off towards hotels
marked on the map provided by Sci as 'seedy'.