Brent nodded to Gareth as he came onto the bridge.  He points up to the display. "We picked up something man made and not on the charts Gareth.  I'm intercepting it."

"...Or we could run. Running is always good."

Gareth takes his place on the bridge, and is dismayed to see bravery occurring.

The intercept vectors are still merging smoothly as the freighter's fusion engines continue to rumble astern. "Two minutes until cutoff, Sir," the petty officer says quietly.

Robert chuckled.  "I doubt if its a threat. Hail her Gareth anyone though."  He turned to the petty officer.  "Scan the object for heat sources.  Let's see if she's alive."

As the ship closed the range he announced again.  "Stand by for free fall in two minutes."

Gareth's bridge station has a communications panel already displayed. He has the option of using a steered array for directional radio, omnidirectional radio, microwaves, and laser for voice and data communications.

"Aye, Sir." Liu consults her displays for a full minute. "I've got a faint heat source now, and also a better visual."

Brent's nav display shows a minute to match vectors now.

See group 2 map for latest image.

Gareth begrudgingly hails what is probably an enemy vessel.

"This is the Daiidkhun. Please respond."

Gareth transmits with no result. Then, over the broad frequency radio receiver, he sees a very weak signal. "G... K..., G... K..." The text code keeps repeating, one letter every five seconds. The signal is on a frequency that no one uses, and the origin appears to be in the direction of the unknown object.

Brent leaned forward and gripped the arms of the acceleration couch.  "Heat sources and signal GK.  Someone is in there."

"I recommend sending over a team of low ranking crew members to investigate."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 21:05, Sun 08 May 2016.

"How do you know someone is in there, Sir?" Lui asks, turning to look at Brent. "And what is a Signal GK?"

Brent shakes his head.  "I'm only guessing that someone is alive given that there is a heat source and the emergency signal was triggered suddenly.  It's possible that the heat source is just a low level power plant and the signal is on automatic and was triggered by our signal automatically."  He frowned.  "Signal GK is an old, old distress signal.  It was ancient when this system was first settled.  Beyond that I don't know much."

He looked over at Gareth.  "That would be a good idea.  No reason to lose the command team in one blow."

Brent's navigation display changes as the Daiidkhun's engines shut down, indicating that the freighter is now on the same vector as the unknown target, holding formation at about two kilometers away.

Brent brought the unknown target up on the screens at maximum magnification.  He checked their position one last time to make sure they were stable and called the captain again.  "Captain, the object is definitely man made and a derelict.  We're getting a garbled distress signal.   Request your presence on the bridge."

There's no response from the captain's cabin, and the navigation plot shows your ship and the target are at rest relative to each other. In effect, you are both now in orbit around the larger asteroid.

A moment later, the captain appears through the aft bridge hatch. Her undress uniform blouse is mis-buttoned and half tucked in, and she is sporting a fresh-looking reddish blotch on her neck just under her left jawline. Her mass of blonde hair is pulled back with a hairband, and she glowers darkly at Brent as she pulls herself through the compartment toward him.

"This had better be good," she growls. "If we're late, it's my ass - correction, it will be your ass."

OOG: New pics on group #3 & 4 map pages
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:47, Mon 09 May 2016.

OOG: For some reason I can't see the map pages other than 0. 

Brent unbuckles and floats out of the command couch to make room for the captain.  He refrains from making any comments at her appearance.  Moving over he floats near the navigation console.  "See captain, it's clearly a derelict of some sort.  There is a heat source and a faint distress signal.  Legally it would be our asses and our licenses for ignoring it.  There may be salvage rights."

OOG: Okay, everyone should be able to see the maps and images.

IG: The captain positions herself in the command chair, and peers at her displays. "It does look to be in one piece, at least." She smiles, which doesn't do a lot for her, since Brent can see the avarice in her expression. "If it is, it'd be worth a fortune. Get over there, and see how we can salvage it. Take whomever and whatever you need, but get me that ship."

Meanwhile, back in the crew quarters area, Malcolm has been dealing with a minor emergency of his own. The crash he heard, he soon found out, was the galley crew somehow dropping and spilling an entire container of flour into the passageway. In the ensuing bout of maneuvering and periods of freefall, the entire passageway is now covered in flour, and the air is heavily contaminated with flour dust.

The dust is a breathing hazard in the low/no local gravity environment, and Malcolm has had to rescue the feckless assistant cook and her helper from certain lung damage, and get breathing masks on them from the emergency locker near his cabin. All three of them have breathing masks against the dust, and the ship's engineer is busily rigging the ventilation system to pump the dust out - as soon as the rest of it can be cleaned to prevent stirring up even more of it from the deck, bulkheads and overhead.

Brent examined the object more closely on the screen.  It wasn't anything with which he was personally familiar.  The basic lines of the ship itself were off from the un-streamlined and more functional ships upon which he'd served.

"Ok captain," he said, restraining his enthusiasm.  "I'll pick a small boarding party and head across.  Let's maneuver a little closer first to make the crossing less hazardous.  Losing crew on something like this would raise a lot of unnecessary questions."

Sensing a number of opportunities Gareth attempts to convince the captain to take another course of action.

"This could be a huge discovery captain. If you're not there to witness it someone else might try to take the credit once we get back home. I'd be happy to supervise the bridge while you go make history."

The captain turns to face Gareth, and she stares at him as she considers her reply...

OOG: Please roll 3d6 to see how convincing Gareth is. Lower is better, and this isn't an easy sell. The modifier is secret, since it's Gareth against the captain.

01:07, Today: Hoot rolled 10 using 3d6 ((3,1,6)).
This message was last edited by the player at 06:09, Thu 12 May 2016.

Just then, the captain's intercom buzzes. She turns toward it with a scowl. "This is the Captain."

"Engineering. We've had some sort of hazmat spill in the crew area near the galley," the chief engineer reports. "I'm trying to ventilate the area now, and Malcolm is there to help clean it up."

"Very well. Keep me informed." She cuts the circuit without waiting for a reply, and turns her attention back to Gareth. "It's not usual procedure for the captain to leave her ship while underway," she points out.

Malcolm, seeing the potential hazard before him, grabs the closest breathing mask to place on himself before attempting to assist. once on, he looks around for more breathing masks to prepare for other crew members without. he surveys the scene and attempts to provide a mask to all those closest to him.

"Everyone, get into the closest compartment and shut the door. make sure not to breath any of this in."

Once everyone is secure, Malcolm attempts any Hazmat procedures currently set as protocol on the ship for these type of situations.

Most of the flour had settled to the deck when the ship was maneuvering, but, now that the vent fans are running full blast, it's starting to kick up again pretty heavily in freefall. The vents are working to pull the dust away, though. The two cooks scuttle into the nearest stateroom and close the door, as Malcolm ordered.

His breathing mask, a combination of a filter and a respirator with a twenty-minute air supply, is working well to filter out the flour dust. The mask also has a comm unit built into it, set to the primary damage control channel on the ship.

Malcolm uses the comm link:

"Crew members have been secured and the situation is being resolved. Lock down all doors until situation is fully resolved. whats our status? - over"

Malcolm attempts to assist the venting system suck up the dust faster.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:48, Thu 12 May 2016.