All in the Family Follow-Up Notes

Nov 27-30 – issue 34 supplement

Just after Thanksgiving weekend, Laughton takes off on a business trip. As usual, what Velda, and therefore some members of the office, think he is doing is not what he is really doing. He’s headed to Afghanistan, to follow up on the Jay Richards CIA lead (see issue 28 supplemental notes). Upon arriving in Kabul, Laughton dons the guise of a local mercantilist. Spending some time asking around and following leads, he quickly gets in with a local conspiratorial group knowing of Richards (by description). Laughton follows that lead to a secret rendezvous where he sees them trading information with the American fitting the description he’s after. He eventually finds the man at a bazaar, and follows him into a bar. 

In the bar, Laughton saddles up close to Richards at the bar, and as he hears the man order a drink, turns to him and asks, “American?,” the inquiry in English, but Laughton effects a slight accent giving the impression that he might be Afghani. 

Richards just barely glances at his bar-mate, saying into the air in front of him, "Canadian". He doesn't drive a conversation, not saying much, However, he doesn't seem to try to shoo Laughton away. As Laughton tries to engage conversation, the answers are mostly grunts, "uh-huh"s, and occasionally and "I heard that!"

Eventually, Laughton gets to the point, requesting Richards follow him someplace else that is more suited for a conversation as well as really making sure they are not followed or overheard (Laughton has his counter-intelligence devices running).

Richards turns and says quietly, "I'm not a cabbage patch kid. We'll go to a place I know is safe. I have a room here we can use but there's a girl who stays there with us."

Laughton is just a bit irritated at this, and drops his voice to a low, unaccented whisper, “Listen Richards, I've been following you since your meeting with Apu back at the market place. No offense, but did it occur to you that perhaps there were other reasons for your ‘Canadian’ Intelligence Agency to reassign you out in the middle of this sand pit? I've had a more difficult time following cabbage patch kids, so don't flatter yourself.

"This place oozes surveillance opportunities, but if your choice passes muster, I'll accept it. As for the 'girl', presumably she is in the category of non-threat, and if not, she will be made so."

Richards' reply, "Think you're hot stuff? I know why I'm here, mister, and I can tell you it's a job worth doing. I guess we'll have to see if the same is true of you. Only thing I can tell you is don't presume, 'Afghani', don't presume."

Laughton leaves a 20,000 Afghani bill on the bar, and motions to Richards to lead the way. As he sticks his hands into his robes, he activates the white noise generator, and quickly scans for other electronics in the vicinity.

They go up to the room, a girl following as Richards merely motions at her. It becomes quickly apparent she speaks no English (and as Laughton checks to see if she's lying about not understanding English, she does not seem to be, but Laughton can tell she's hiding something). As far as Laughton can tell, the room is not bugged or otherwise under surveillance.

Richards sits on a big cushy chair near the large, pillared bed. The girl lays relaxed on the bed - but Laughton realizes she's not as relaxed as she seems, her arm muscles and especially her hands slightly tensed. Richards turns to Laughton and says, "So?"

Laughton runs through his gamut of sensors and a quick perusal of the room. Laughton does not find evidence of any electronic devices. He demands, “What is she hiding?" Laughton keeps an eye on the girl as he roams the room while speaking. He doesn't really expect an answer, but is more warning Richards that he has spotted something possibly amiss and is aware of it. 

"How about neither of us find out?" Richards offers up.

When Laughton is satisfied with the state of the room, he turns to Richards, and opens up his PDA, reviewing some of the recorded hidden signals, which now create a hologram for everyone to see. The information he shares shows some of the hidden signals buried in the broadcasts, highlighting the pertinent bits. Laughton is silent and methodical while he reviews this information for Richards, monitoring the agent's response to the information.

After a few moments the display goes dark. Laughton regards Richards for a count, almost silently daring the agent to react in the pat manner that Weed had done. "What can you tell me of this? No patronization, no games. Your time and mine are both too valuable for that, and I've gone through significant effort to be here."

Richards stares for a bit, and thinks. Then he says, "My boss just told me to run the pattern. So I did. I really didn't think much about it." Then he pauses again, "Look, I know there's more going on here than I know. But really, don't get the girl going. You wouldn’t like her when she's mad."

From what Laughton can tell he's telling the truth - on all counts. Laughton glances at the mutant detector of Sihn’s, and notes she does not show as a mutant. Laughton immediately is suspicious of mental powers, and makes a concentrated effort to detect if she is actively probing his mind (realizing she may be able to mask the ability). He gives the girl a studious look, racking his recent memory and research for clues to who she might be, but he has no idea. He doesn't feel like he’s being mentally touched, but other than knowing how it feels from Spectrum and possibly an attack or two in the past, he doesn't have much context for that.

In a quietly calm voice, Laughton turns to put his back towards the girl and shield the PDA from her as he shows it to Richards. "Take a look at this..." and Laughton quickly taps out a number of yes of no questions that he can point to one at a time, and Richards quickly answers:


He holds Richards eye contact for each one, with the understanding that Richards will be surreptitious with his non verbal response. Richards seems a bit bemused actually. Laughton is satisfied with the answers; he utters a 'hmmm', and moves to the side of the window stroking his chin in thought. Then suddenly he spins and shoots the girl with his stone-turning ability. He hopes for the element of surprise. He concentrates hard on his power, hoping to ensure success. She is not stopped, though he can see her starting to turn the colors of the stone she'll become, probably in 1 or 2 more hits. 

She grabs a sword from under the bed and leaps at Laughton, striking him. It would badly cut into him but he transforms to stone just in time so as to avoid any damage.

She begins chanting…Rodin quickly strikes again, this time finishing the transformation. At the last second he feels a strange twinge, some sort of supernatural attempt on him aborted by his strike, he surmises.

Laughton changes back to human form and hits himself with a shot of Sihn’s healing drug. He’s cautious for a moment, looking about in case Richards has any ideas. He turns to Richards and smiles, "Now we can speak freely. But first, who the hell is she, why is she protecting you, and what is she preventing you from saying?"

Richards smiles as well, nonplussed. "Well, she WAS an insurance policy, a rather good friend, and I trust you'll restore her - Rodin. She's not preventing me from saying anything. I just wanted to warn you so you didn't get hurt if you got excited - but I can see that's not the issue I thought it was. Really, I don't know anything more than what I've said, I swear."

Laughton hides his disappointment, as this is a dead end. He already knows who Richards’ boss (Daniel Lamprey) would have been and says, "I find that people are always surprised by just how much they do or don't know about a wide variety of things. You're not under the microscope anymore. At least not from me. Chiquita will come around to her senses momentarily. I'll see my self out." Laughton tips his head and backs out the door to the room.

Richards nods and smiles, adding, "Good luck. When you know what it's about drop me a line, huh? Hey, by the way, we got a pool on the Justice Squad in the Company. I'm betting you guys are still around in 5 years, I got the long odds. Most guys are betting you mostly end up in federal prison, except maybe Spectrum. Don't disappoint me!"

After this, Laughton became absorbed in the DEXTER and Sacrosanct conspiracies, not having time to deal with this particular issue, leaving it for another day.