x_project | Okay, for the non-players among our readers...

There was a suggestion made in the player community that we should share unfinished logs, either there or here - and here seemed like the best idea to me. I have too many cute unfinished logs hanging about not to share the best of them.

So... Pete and Domino, back in October of 2004, just prior to the infamous *cough*field trip*cough* to Istanbul.

The room was dark, and Pete didn't look round from the laptop screen he was
staring at as Domino walked in behind him.

"Don't even think about it, Dom. How was the flight?"

He finished typing, set the laptop to one side, and turned in his chair to
grin at her as she switched the lights on.

"Tedious. Boring. Insufficient alcohol. First class isn't what it used
to be, I'm afraid." Domino went over and planted herself on the couch,
putting her feet up on the coffee table. She gave him a quick up and
down look, then made a tsking noise. "You," she said very firmly,
"need to get out of this house. Possibly out of this country as well.
I have an idea."

Pete stretched. "All of these things are probably true, but
you'll forgive a little self-preseveration instinct if I ask
what you've got in mind, before I agree to leaving the room,
never mind the country. I remember some of your other
bloody ideas..."

She batted her eyelashes at him. "You're going to hurt my feelings,"
she said mournfully. "As if you didn't have fun all those other times.
I mean, okay, so the incidental bullet holes and stab wounds probably
weren't strictly necessary, but it's not my fault if you're old and
slow." Pete looked like he was going to say something in response to
that, but she made an imperious gesture. "And I did NOT shoot you that
time in Dublin! We agreed. You fell on my bullet."

Pete looked back with an amused expression. "No, you agreed, and
I was too busy bleeding to argue. But yeah, I admit, that stab
wounds, bullet holes and hideous beatings aside, I had fun.
But I've had more than my bloody share of them for this
year already, so I'd just like to know the odds of more..."

"Semantics," Domino said dismissively, waving a hand. "But anyway. You
remember me mentioning that job I did, retrieving some artifacts that
had been stolen?" Pete nodded, and she went. "Turns out my friend the
curator in Athens passed my name to a fellow curator in Istanbul who
found himself with the same problem. Frustrating thing for him is, he
knows who's got this piece--it's a private collector in
Istanbul, but the man's rich enough that he can pay to make the
problem go away so the curator's not having any luck going through the
antiquities people." Domino grinned. "So, basically, he's proposing to
use the reward money - five hundred grand American, by the way - to
hire me to steal it back."

Pete looked thoughtful. "Not that escorting a beautiful woman while
she steals expensive artifacts doesn't sound like a good way to
spend a rainy afternoon, but what's the angle here? Unless
there's something about this collector, you don't need help
on a job like this, and I can think of other ways to take
a break that don't run the risk of getting arrested..."

"Does everything I do need an angle? No, don't answer that." She
slouched a little further on the couch, yawning. The flight had really
done a number on her, and she was still catching up on sleep from
Kashmir. "I thought it might be fun, that's all. You, me... Amanda."
She eyed him, waiting for the reaction. When it didn't come
immediately, she went on. "And possibly any of the other youngsters
you think could use a break. I was thinking of Sarah, actually. And
yes, Wisdom, I'm proposing taking minors out of the country to
commit grand larceny, I'm fully aware of that. But it's a noble cause,
dammit! We'd be robbing the rich and giving to the... not quite as
rich and much nicer!" She grinned cheerfully at him. "Don't you think
I'd look good in a Robin Hood costume? I have the legs for it..." She
waved one at him, to demonstrate.

"Yes, you do." Pete frowned distractedly. "Let me take a look at
what background you've got for this, but yeah, I think you're
right. Something nice and low risk and away from bloody
here where she gets to feel good about herself sounds like
what the doctor ordered." He pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Amanda, Sarah and Angie."

Domino reached into her pocket and pulled out the USB key, tossing it
to him. "Blueprints, photos, timeline. I came prepared." She regarded
him a little more seriously. "It was my idea to kidnap Amanda back a
couple of weeks ago, but Nate called me on the weekend and told me to
find something we could do and get my ass over here. I gather she's
not doing well. And what's wrong with Angie?"

Pete caught the key, and plugged it into the laptop, flipping it open
and copying the files as he talked. "Oh, about a hundred different
things, I think. Combination of a stressful few months that forced
her to grow up a bit, and a mix of feeling useless and boredom now
she's back into a kid's routine, I think. She's trying very hard
to be the good girl everyone's used to, but I'm not sure how much
her heart's in it any more." He looked up a slight grin. "Also,
she's female, teenaged and French."

"Well, I do know Nate's been fretting about her. Solidarity among
precogs or whatever the hell you want to call it." Domino leaned
forward, eyeing him. "Phoned your sister before I got on the plane.
She said it was fine with her so long as you and Nate both okayed the
job." She made a little face. "I accused her of not trusting my
judgement, and she just laughed at me and told me I still owed her a
certain something from Amsterdam."