Amber Zone - Honest Broker

Last Updated 27 November 2003.

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2003 #515

Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 15:37:36 +0000
From: "Larsen E. Whipsnade"
Subject: [TML] Amber Zone: Honest Broker

Ladies and Gentlemen,

     My folly is your boon...

Honest Broker

Introduction

The players are approached by a cargo broker they have dealt with before.

Players' Information

A broker with whom they have done business contacts players during a starport layover. He has a business proposition he believes the players may find interesting, one that will pay them rather well and will take only a few hours to perform.

He has need of some people to perform a somewhat critical business errand for him. The party that normally handles this sort of errand for him is busy with other tasks. The errand is not illegal nor will the players need to break or bend any laws. The errand is extremely confidential however and the broker does not want the job freely discussed in any saloons or barbershops the players may frequent. The broker is more than willing reward discretion on the players' parts and the fee he offers will illustrate that.

The broker's errand consists of the players taking a written note to an individual, waiting for a reply to the note from that individual, and returning the reply to the broker.

If the players are efficient and behave in a circumspect manner, the broker may have similar errands for them in the near future.

Background Information

Kidnappings in and around the starport region have been on the rise. Very few of these crimes are reported to the authorities. Some see law enforcement as either corrupt or incompetent. Others view kidnapping as a private affair, something to be handled without drawing any additional attention to the crime. In a large majority of cases, the ransom is paid and the victim released, usually unharmed.

The people being kidnapped are drawn from all walks of life; they can be visiting businessmen, gang members, local citizens, and even starship crewmembers. Ransoms can range from a few hundred CrImps to hundreds of thousands of credits. Victims can be held for only a few hours or for several weeks, however long the situation demands.

Many groups, with a variety of agendas, are active in the trade. A few groups are using kidnappings to raise money for political or social causes, while others are involved in the trade simply for the money. Some of the kidnapping gangs specialize in snatching dozens of low ransom targets, depending on quantity to fill their pockets. Other gangs target individuals who can command large ransoms and spend weeks and months planning their operations. Whatever the reasons, the boom in kidnappings has led to an opportunity for people willing to act as middlemen.

Both the kidnappers and the ransom payers want a sense of security when dealing with each other. The kidnappers want to be assured that law enforcement or private security officers won't be breathing down their necks. The ransom payers want to be certain that they aren't paying for a corpse. Both sides want the full amount of money to reach the proper individuals without any problems and both sides do not want to be cheated by the other in any way. A middleman, known and trusted by both sides, can help assuage those fears.

The middleman can handle ransom negotiations, reporting honestly to either side about the financial situations involved. A middleman can also verify that an individual is actually being held captive and that they are in good health. Finally, a middleman can help insure that the final swap of ransom and kidnapped victim goes smoothly and without any chance of a doublecross.

Some middlemen have even branched out into offering a type kidnapping insurance. Individuals at risk of being kidnapped post a bond with a trusted middleman. This bonded money will then be paid out if the crime has occurs and after the kidnappers demonstrate that the victim is still alive.

GM's Information

The broker in question has developed a lucrative side business of late. He has been acting as a middleman, an "honest broker", during this recent spate of kidnappings. Because this aspect of his business is booming, he is in need of additional help. He is hiring the players to perform one of the most delicate and time consuming portions of the middleman business, ascertaining that the kidnapping victim is alive and that they are who the kidnappers claim.

His desire that the players remain discrete about their job is not due any personal embarrassment. Rather, he does not want to run the risk of the local authorities being tipped to the affair in any manner. Neither side is this situation wishes that to happen and the broker will reward the players if they behave in a circumspect manner. Any attempts by the players to pressure the broker for more money or even to blackmail him, in the mistaken belief they have something "on him", must keep these distinctions in mind.

Quite frankly, the local population generally admires the actions of the middlemen and the parties involved are relying on the broker's discretion. If the players get too "cute", the broker will remove them from the job, pay them the original fee agreed upon, and let news of their actions pass through the local community. The players will find any business or private dealings they may undertake in the area adversely effected by these reports for some time to come.

Delivery Job

If they accept the job, the players will be handed an envelope and a small holographic portrait of an adult human male. The broker will instruct them to deliver the envelope to the man in the picture, wait for his response, and bring that response back to the broker. The broker will tell them to arrive at certain eating establishment by a certain time. There they will be approached by an individual and given further instructions that will eventually bring them face to face with the human in the picture.

The broker will be forthright about the kidnapping, explaining the situation to the players and warning them not to be heroes. He will caution them about carrying weapons beyond those they would normally carry around town. The players are to act as the broker's ears and eyes; they are there only to determine that the kidnapped person is safe and whole. They are not there to puzzle out where the victim is being held, who is holding them, or any other similar information. The broker will stress again and again that the players not act as heroes. He wants confirmation, not additional problems.

When the players arrive at the rendezvous, a nondescript street person will immediately approach them. They will be asked if they are from the broker. If they reply "yes", the street person will hand them a small disposable comm link, tell them that the call is "for them", and depart. If the street person is followed, they will lead anyone trailing them first to a local liquor store and then, clutching a full bottle, to a flophouse. The street person will pay in both cases with cash. If questioned, the street person will only know that they were given the link, the cash, and instructions about whom to hand the comm over to. Any descriptions the street person supplies will be worthless, either too vague or too shifting to be of any practical use.

The comm link itself is of a local variety. Cheap and disposable, they are easily purchased and last for a set number of minutes. Attempting to track down who bought the link or where it was purchased will prove impossible as they are sold in vending machines throughout the port and surrounding region. Attempts to monitor or trace any calls made over the link will be fruitless too; the link has a limited wireless range and connects into a bewildering landline and microwave transmission network (Note to GMs - if the tech level of the planet in question cannot support a system of disposable cell phones, have the street person instead direct the players to the phone booth he has been waiting in. All other messages will be by public telephone too).

A voice on the comm link (or phone) will provide the players with directions to another location. The directions will be provided twice in succession and the voice will answer no questions. If the players interrupt too often or ask too many questions the call will terminate and no additional calls will be received.

As the players reach the new location, another call will be received much like the first. The players should be routed around the starport and surrounding city to as many locations as the GM wishes, but three or four such trips should be the absolute minimum. After reaching each location, the players will receive a new call with new directions to yet another location.

Do not provide the players with much time to travel to each new location. In this manner the GM will be able to prevent the players from making any detailed plans or doing anything else other than moving from place to place. The players should have little time in each location to scan or survey the each area. They should remain uncertain as to whether or not they are being followed or watched.

Finally, the players should arrive at low-income housing project, residential hotel, or other such low profile, high traffic type building. The players will be directed, again by comm link or telephone, to a certain unit or room and there finally meet the man they've done so much to see.

The make-up the group holding the captive and the set-up of the rooms in which he is currently being held should be carefully arranged by the GM. The number of captors, the weapons they are carrying, the location of the captive, all should be chosen to prevent any notion of heroics on the part of the players.

After being frisked and allowed to keep any personal weapons or equipment the kidnappers find reasonable, the players will be informed that they have 10 minutes to speak with the captive. They should hand over the envelope and await the response they have came for. While with the captive, the players may try to question him further. However, the captors will interrupt and prevent any questions beyond those concerning the captive's health and well-being.

As soon as the captive finishes his response to the queries contained in the envelope, the captive will be hustled out of the room. Some of the kidnappers will stay with the players and prevent them from leaving for another 30 minutes. After that time, the players will be free to go and report back to the broker.

Possible Complications

  1. Traffic or some other transportation problems prevent the players from arriving at a designated location within the time specified and the captors break off contact.
    This may not mean the end of the job however. If the players immediately and honestly report their failing to the broker, he will still pay them and may even hire them for a second attempt.

  2. One of the kidnappers takes umbrage at the players. Something they said, or did, or something they were carrying causes him to question their motives. He may denounce them as informants or worse. An argument among the captors may break out over his suspicions. The players will have to defuse or resolve the situation before they are allowed to see the captive.

  3. The captive is injured in some manner and requires basic medical attention.
    The players may have to convince the captors of the captive's condition or the captors may already be aware and nervous about the captive's condition. The players can then either provide the medical care themselves, keeping in mind the kidnappers' desire to move the captive soon, or argue that the captive be hospitalized.
    The captors may even offer to allow a player with medical skills to remain with the captive.

  4. Knowledge of this kidnapping has leaked out and the players are being followed. The followers could be law enforcement agents, private security hired by someone close to the captive, or another kidnapping gang interested in taking the captive and ransom for themselves.
    If the players discover they're being followed, there are a few options open to them. They can try and give their followers the slip, they can try and convince the followers to stop, they can join in with the followers, or they can inform the kidnappers and abort the meeting.
    If the players do not discover they're being followed and the meeting goes ahead, they could find themselves in the middle of a police raid, gang firefight, or hostage situation.

  5. The captive is not who the kidnappers think is he is. Despite his protests, the captors believe he is someone else and will react violently to any suggestions otherwise.
    The holographic picture the players are carrying may help convince the kidnappers of their mistake, but that also means the captive is no longer of any use to them. How the captive is dealt with after that will depend on the actions of the players.

  6. The captive is dead, either as a result of the kidnapping or from other causes, and the captors are still attempting to collect the ransom. One of their number is posing as the captive, wearing the captive's clothes and sporting heavy bandages to disguise his looks.
    The imposter will be unable to answer the broker's written questions. He'll scribble a few lines and claim an inability to answer fully due to the effects of his injuries. In any event, the imposter will not do a very good job of pretending to be the captive.
    If the players denounce him as a fraud or let their suspicions be known in any other manner, the kidnappers will be forced to act. They may attack the players or even offer them a piece of ransom if they help deceive the broker.

Conclusion or Resolution

However the meeting with captive and kidnappers occur or whatever the results are, the players will have spent a nerve wracking afternoon and evening being shuttled all over the starport, meeting with a criminal gang, and collecting the required information.

Success in this one job may bring offers of similar jobs from the broker. The players could find themselves delivering a portion of the ransom or acting as couriers during protracted negotiations.

Success could also help the players in other, more 'legal' ways. The broker is a broker after all. The successful and trusted working relationship that developed during this matter could lead the broker to hire or use the players in other areas, such as shipping or speculative trading.

Success could also bring notoriety. While the general population doesn't mind the existence of the middlemen, the local authorities do not care for them at all, viewing the activities of the middlemen as a professional insult. The players may begin to experience low level police harassment, paperwork troubles, or other bureaucratic tangles once the authorities know their affiliation with the middleman.


This material is explicitly placed in the public domain by the author.

Sincerely,
Larsen


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