Shore Leave: The Village

Day 1, 2350 hours

Except for the sounds of distant shouts and music, the night has been very quiet so far but that changes suddenly.
Alira is in her cottage when she starts hearing shouts from outside, not far away. It's hard to make out what the voices are saying for the most part but she does make out that some of them sound angry or at least annoyed while others sound more worried. They are moving around the neighborhood, coming closer and moving farther away again, At one point, Alira can hear someone walk up right to her house and then knock loudly at her front door.

In front of your door is a woman in her late teens wearing a cadet's uniform. "I apologize, ma'am, but..." She looks around nervously, as if she's scared someone might overhear the conversation. With her voice lowered, she explains: "A group of cadets has gone missing and we're trying to find them. Have you noticed anything?"

The cadet looks a bit unsure but enters Alira's cottage. As Alira is getting dressed, the cadet explains: "So, one of my classmates heard that there might be a drill exercise or something going on tonight so some of us went around and informed everyone so they would be ready for it. While we made that round, we noticed that four cadets were missing. Most cadets think they just snuck into town to get drunk but that's not really like them, at least not like all of them. And if it gets discovered that they're not in their cottages, they'll get in big trouble. We were just asking around if anyone has seen them"

The cadet still seems unsure about the situation and whether involving you was a mistake or not but there's nothing to do about it now.
"Cadet Lisa Wilde, ma'am. Thank you for your help. And for your discretion."
She follows Alira out of the cottage and towards the town. Once you get there, she seems uncertain about where to start looking. There are many people out and about, many of them drunk, although few are as hammered as Cass and Alex are.

OK Lisa, here's how we will do this. We will start at this end. We will go to each bar. You will stand by the door and watch outside for your friends. I will do a quick search inside. If I see any cadets, I will get you to identify them. Then we repeat the process until we check them all.

When checking the bars Alira will make her way through the bars quickly. She can move people out of the way, but she isn't going to hurt anyone. If she can do so quickly she will ask a server if a group of cadets were in.

OK. Don't go running off I will be quick.

Lisa follows your plan and keeps an eye out outside while you ask around in the bars, working your way through them. The first few that you check don't yield any results.
You walk up to the fisherman themed pub that you were talking to Nic in earlier, which looks much much fuller now than it was in the afternoon.

You walk up to the door but before you can enter, a flashing light from the edge of the town catches your attention a few hundred meters away. You think you can hear a siren from there, too, but it's almost impossible to make out over the sounds of the partying people.
Some turn around in that direction, you hear people questioning what's going on but everybody goes back to what they were doing before once they lose interest a few seconds later. The people inside the pub probably don't even notice it at all.

Lisa...we are here now. We will check this bar and then we can take a quick side trip to check on the lights. Don't leave until I come 9ut. That's an order cadet.

Alira takes a deep breath and heads into the crowd.

Lisa nods and together you move to the lights and sirens. As you get closer, you realize that the source of the alarm is the parking lot where the hover transports that bring you to other parts of the island are kept. You see two men, both older than you, one human, one a kind of humanoid alien you don't recognize, walking between the cars, obviously looking for someone or something and a human woman frantically working on a computer console. All three are wearing a uniform that is based on the regular spacefleet design but altered to look more casual and blend in better with casual clothes.
You also see a couple of people drawn here by the alarm who are watching the security team work from some distance.

As she is approaching the scene with Lisa, Alira looks around. There are about a dozen people standing by and checking out what's going on. They all look pretty drunk with one or two exceptions.
Looking at the scene, she quickly realizes that while one security officer is walking around and searching for something or someone, the other is focused on one of the hover transports in particular. She spots something under the vehicle he's inspecting but can't make out what it is from this distance.

As she is still checking out the scene, she suddenly hears the familiar voice of her mother, Professor Drenala Vitan, behind her: "What do we have here? Alira, I had heard you would be coming to the planet but I was certain you hadn't arrived yet. After all, you wouldn't just ignore your own parents, would you?"
Lisa immediately freezes and stares at Alira with a panicked expression.

"Oh, my dear, just a short visit to say hello to your father and mother wouldn't have taken up too much time now, would it? Ah, how do we deserve such an insensitive daughter? Where did we go wrong, I wonder?" Alira knows that her mother will bring up this topic again but for now she drops it and looks over the hover transports and the security people working there. "I have hear that someone tried to hack and steal one of the hover transports. I'm surprised you didn't know that already, though. You are a policewoman after all."

Drenala was so focused on Alira that she had not paid attention to Lisa before Alira pointed her out to her. Alira can see amusement in her mother's eyes as she says: "Oh, you don't have to introduce me to one of my own cadets, dear." Her eyes flash between Lisa, who still looks at Alira like a deer in the headlights, and Alira. "What you can tell me on the other hand is why you are wandering around in town with a cadet after her curfew?"

"Yes, I am sure you can do that, dear, but I am wondering why you are doing it? And what is this about other cadets? Do you know something that I am unaware of?"
Alira notices from the corner of her eye that Lisa is - barely noticeably - shaking her head, trying to let you know not to tell her about the missing cadets. Drenala either doesn't notice or doesn't comment on it.

The investigation is not very interesting to watch. The security officers don't talk to each other and they don't seem to find anything surprising or of note. Because of this, some of the spectators are turning around to go back to town, most likely to get something else to drink.
As Alira's eyes scan over the group of spectators, one person in particular catches her eye. A woman, probably around thirty, with long black hair. From the way she stands and walks, she does not look like spacefleet and something about her sets off Alira's alarm bells. The woman turns away from the scene of the investigation, her eyes lingering for just a second on Alira and Drenala, and then walks back towards town.

"There is a nice little cafe in town, right by the plaza. Your father and I will be there tomorrow afternoon. Meet us at four. And don't be late. I know that is difficult for you, dear." Drenala notices Alira slowly backing away and closes the distance with a few quick steps. She leans forward and kisses Alira's cheek. "Have a good night, Lira."

As you're walking back towards the town, Lisa quietly speaks up. "That was so awkward... Thank you for not saying anything about the other cadets."

"No offense, but I'm glad Professor Vitan is not my mother. She can be very... stressful. Is that rude to say?"
You make your way back to town where the drinking is continuing as usual. As you look around, you notice that there is some movement back at the living quarters but you're too far away to make out any details about who it is. You still have a couple of bars ahead of you that you can check out if you want to proceed with that plan.
You also notice some people who are trying to blend in but obviously aren't drunk and aren't here to have fun. They look to you like security officers in plain clothes.

You intentionally walk by close to two people who you assume to be a security guards to listen in on their conversation. They seem to notice you and pause their conversation as you walk past so you can't gather any new information that way. They dont seem like there's any danger or anything really worrying them, though. Moving on, you continue to the next bar from where you continue with your system of checking the bars for the missing cadets but don't seem to have much success.
You're almost done with your round when you reach a small bar on the edge of the town that doesn't seem as popular as the other places. As before, you enter and Lisa stays outside. It's mostly empty except for a short, skinny man with dark hair and a long beard behind the counter and a man and a woman in the corner of the bar who are leaning very closely together and whispering to each other.
You approach the bar and the bartender immediately hands you a small glass with a transparent, brown liquid. "On the house", he says with a grin. "How can I help you?"

You don't recognize the people at the table.
The barkeeper doesn't take the drink back. He keeps it next to you, probably in case you change your mind.
"Cadets? There were some kids here who looked around that age. Four, two guys, two gals. They had a few drinks, nothing crazy, and talked to a woman that was in here for a while. She wasn't a cadet, she was older than them. They all left around thirty, forty five minutes ago."

"Out the front door. I can't see past that. They seemed a bit nervous, I would say"

Lisa doesn't look happy about this but nods.
You walk back into the village and Lisa leads you to a section of the village that seems very lively despite the fact that nobody is out on the street. There's sound coming from all cottages and you can see people moving behind the windows.
Lisa heads straight for one specific cottage that seems quieter than the others. There is light burning inside, though.
She knocks at the door and after a minute or two, the door opens. A girl, the same age as Lisa, is standing in the doorway, raising an eyebrow at the two of you. Alira, she smells like she has been smoking something not quite legal.
"Are they back?", Lisa asks her before the girl has the chance to say anything.
"Is who back? Everyone's here. Nobody left their quarters." The girl is looking straight at Alira as she's saying this.
"She knows about it. She's cool. Helped me search for them and even got me out of a tough situation with Vitan."
The girl hesitates for a bit longer, then she says: "They're back. Got here fifteen minutes ago. They look a bit messed up but they'll be fine." She pauses and then explains: "Messed up as in stressed. I don't think they got in a fight or anything."

The girl rolls her eyes and turns back into the house. She doesn't close the door behind her.
Lisa replies: "I wish you would tell your mom that, though. Maybe she'll think twice about failing me then. But probably not."

Shortly after, two cadets come to the door, one male, one female. The guy looks at you, then Lisa, then back at you. "What's this about? I was already sleeping."
He's obviously lying. He's visibly nervous, he's wearing outside clothes and shoes and he doesn't sound sleepy at all.

"Stars, calm down, will you?", the guy says. He seems to consider whether pretending he doesn't know what you're talking about would do him any good but decides against it. "We were just having some fun. That woman just came up to us and we just talked for a while. Her name was Neeza and she's working for some shipping company, not spacefleet. Why do you even care?"

I care, because I am a security officer and it is my job to care.
Listen carefully and I will know if you lie.
Did this woman ask you to take something to a friend off planet or in the Academy?
You said she worked for a shipping company, did she offer to pay you for a delivery now or in the future?

Alira tries to calm down, but this is setting off major alarm bells.

Did she say what company? What kind of questions did she ask you?

"She didn't ask us to do anything. Just get lost. You were looking for us? Well, here we are." He turns to Lisa. "I knew you're a bitch but calling security on us is a dick move."

Chad looks surprised when you lift him up easily. He's pretty tall and broad-shouldered. You don't look strong enough to lift him. He fights against your grip but you're holding him well and he got caught by surprise.
He looks over to Lisa but does not seem willing to apologize so he turns his eyes back to you. "Fine, we did something stupid. Yes, it was us. Happy now? It's not like anyone got hurt. We didn't even manage to steal this stupid transport. Now let me down."
The girl that came out with him looks at Alira in shock and slowly moves back into the cottage. The girl that initially opened the door has a wide grin on her face as she watches the action in front of her.

The girl stops retreating but doesn't come back.

"Neeza, she gave us a security access chip, said we could take one of the transports with it and find some nice private spot somewhere. It sounded like a great idea at the time. Turns out she was setting us up. The codes didn't work and triggered an alarm so we ran back here before we get caught by security."

The girl who opened the door for you lets out a quick, sharp laugh. "You guys really are idiots"

You receive a confirmation on the comm and Chad glares at you with deep anger.
The girl who opened the door grins at you and then gets back into the house before security arrives. Lisa looks between Alira and the others and eventually decides to leave without another word. You can see her get into another cottage close to this one.

It takes a couple of minutes before two men in the same uniforms you saw at the transporter lot arrive. They introduce themselves as Lt. Mars and Ensign Tox. You recount the events of the night (let me know what details you mention and which ones you leave out) and they take Chad and the girl who was with him into custody. They don't put handcuffs or anything on them as they don't seem to pose a risk.

Lt. Mars, a short but very strong looking man, nods approvingly. "Doin' a good job there, Lieutenant. You're on shore leave, so we'll just take it from here, unless you want to stay involved."